‘It’s just that, a stunt’: City Council OK’s settlement offer for suing U.P. marijuana dispensaries

MENOMINEE, Mich. (WJMN) — The Menominee City Council voted on Monday evening to approve language for an agreement that would aim to end the years of lawsuits over its rules for selling marijuana within city limits, though it seems unlikely all parties will get on board.

The deal comes after about seven months of negotiations between plaintiffs Rize and the Fire Station, and the City of Menominee.

One element that has complicated the talks is the participation of several other local dispensaries in the suit, as intervening defendants on the side of the city. This can happen when a person argues that they or their business could be impacted by the outcome of a lawsuit they weren’t originally a part of.

“We plaintiffs have been negotiating in good faith and trying to resolve the case. However two of the Intervening Defendants (not all) did not like our last offer,” said Rize Attorney Mike Cox in a message to Local 3.

The current lawsuit was filed last August in response to the city’s decision last summer to get rid of its original limit of only two marijuana business licenses in the city—a decision which in itself was in response to years of litigation pursued by several marijuana companies that, unlike Rize and Fire Station, were not awarded the first two permits.

Freshman Mayor Casey Hoffman, who indicated months ago that the lawsuits were nearly solved , said the council’s passage this new agreement again puts the city close to achieving that goal.

“We have managed to reach an agreement that I think will be signed by all the marijuana companies,” said Hoffman on Wednesday afternoon. “It puts Rize and the Fire Station in a position where no matter what happens, Menominee wins.”

Hoffman said the current agreement was relatively bare-bones, and documents provided by the Mayor corroborate that assessment.

In our previous reporting, we shared how Rize and Fire Station may have been willing to drop their suits but were asking for the ability to select a new location for their stores, since theirs were selected with the assumption that the rules only allowing two marijuana shops in the city would not change.

The plaintiffs had also asked for an increased zoning barrier around locations like schools, churches, and residential neighborhoods—something the mayor has said he is in favor of himself.

“It ended up not being included… My hope is that in the future we can still have those 1000-foot buffers, this agreement does not stop the City Council from adopting [them],” said Mayor Hoffman. “We still have that power and may exercise it in the future.

In the approved five-page agreement draft shared by Mayor Hoffman, the most significant portions appear to be a clause commanding the end of the lawsuits against the city, and an agreement that the marijuana shops will pay any legal fees for the city related to what would be the newest settlement agreement.

A written statement for public comment submitted by a representative of intervening defendants Lume, Higher Love, Highwire, Nirvana Center and Rocky North expressed support for the proposed agreement.

“This comprehensive resolution allows the City and all involved parties to move forward without ongoing legal disputes. There is no logical reason the Plaintiffs would not sign [this agreement], as it offers a fair and final resolution for all parties involved,” read part of the statement.

Local 3 reached out to Rize Attorney Mike Cox for comment on Monday’s vote. Our request improperly stated all parties had agreed to the settlement language approved by the City Council on Monday—an error that Cox was quick to point out.

“There is no deal,” Cox said in the message.

He went on to say that after the Plaintiffs’ last offer was unpalatable to two of the other marijuana shops involved in the lawsuit, “they secretly (we had no idea), made a proposal to the City Council [Monday] through the City’s attorney. The case cannot be settled without both sides, i.e. us Plaintiffs and the City. The City’s attorney knows this but, I assume, passed it along anyway because they want to vote on anything to pretend the case is over.”

Cox said the case is not over. “We knew that when we filed it that it would be a long process and ultimately decided by the Court of Appeals.”

“We knew nothing about yesterday’s stunt. And it is just that, a stunt,” said Cox.

Court records show all parties are expected to be back in court next week. You can read what council members had to say the night they approved the settlement language in an article from the Eagle Herald .

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