DOWAGIAC — Supporters of recreational marijuana businesses will not see any within the city of Dowagiac anytime soon.

The Dowagiac City Council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses within city limits Tuesday. The newly passed ordinance prohibits the establishment or operation of any marijuana-related businesses or marijuana establishment in the city as defined in the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.

The ordinance passed Tuesday to opt-out of recreational marijuana was because licensing provisions and regulations for the production, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana products have yet to be decided by the state, according to City Manager Kevin Anderson.

However, once clarifications come in from the state, the ordinance could be revisited.

“We want to set ourselves up so that we can look at this once state regulations are in place,” Anderson said.

Several city council members expressed their support for the ordinance during Tuesday’s meeting, saying that they believe it is the wisest move for the city to make at this time.

“I look at it from this point, you enter a ball game without any rules to play by,” said councilmember Leon Laylin. “If you have to write a rulebook, you don’t want to have to come up with the rules as you go along, then turn around and rewrite the book. If we are going to have this in our town, give me a concise set of rules that you are going to play by.”

“You wouldn’t go into business without knowing what was in the contract, right?” added councilmember Patrick Bakeman. “We can hop back in later if it comes back, and we like what we see. … I’d rather take a wait and see approach.”

However, not everyone at the meeting was in favor of the council’s decision. Residents Diane Barrett-Curtis and David Castaneda spoke during the meeting’s public comment session. Both residents expressed that they felt the city was acting prematurely by opting out.

Barrett-Curtis said she was not in support of the ordinance because she believed it was acting against the will of the Dowagiac voters who voted to legalize marijuana and was undermining potential business opportunities in the city.

“When you look at the number of people who supported [Proposal 1 to legalize recreational marijuana] it does seem that you are on the wrong side this time,” Barrett-Curtis said as she addressed the city council. “It does seem that there is support in Dowagiac for recreational marijuana. It also seems that the city may be able to attract some businesses that might provide a local service.”

Castaneda echoed several of Barrett-Curtis’ sentiments when he addressed the council. A Chicago-to-Dowagiac transplant, Castaneda said he would consider leaving the city if the matter of allowing recreational marijuana businesses within city limits is not revisited.

“You are doing this city a disservice by taking the position that you have,” Castaneda said. “This will have financial consequences for our city.”

When addressing the audience’s comments, city council members and city leaders said that the ordinance was not about making a moral judgment about whether people should be using recreational marijuana or not.

Instead, Mayor Don Lyons said the city was mindful of recreational marijuana’s support, but that the ordinance was about making sure that the city was able to make an informed decision going forward. He added that for the city to attempt to draw up a plan for recreational marijuana businesses before regulations were set forth by the state would be a costly endeavor.

“I’ve spent more hours than I care to remember over the past several years looking at this,” he said.  “The issue is: is this something we should be spending our very scarce resources on at this moment or could we let the state work through it, and then respond? … What we are doing now, if you will, is buying ourselves some time.”