Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

For most of our lives, Niles Township has been a quiet, dependable place. Not flashy, not booming, but familiar. That’s starting to change. In just a few months, long-standing businesses have announced their departures. New ones are appearing seemingly overnight. And for many residents, the question isn’t whether change is coming, it’s who’s deciding what that change looks like.

Back in 2022, township voters rejected a proposal to allow adult-use cannabis establishments. Then, in November 2024, the issue returned to the ballot and barely passed. Out of more than 5,700 votes cast, just 245 tipped the scale. That kind of result calls for careful, transparent implementation. But what followed was anything but.

On April 21, 2025, the Township Board passed Zoning Ordinance 25-01, which opened the door to unlimited cannabis retailers on S 11th Street between State Line Road and Fulkerson Avenue. Within days, a resident filed a Notice of Intent to Petition, triggering an automatic legal suspension of the ordinance under Michigan law (MCL 125.3402). But even though the Township acknowledges that its cannabis zoning ordinance is not in effect and might not ever be in effect, the Township is accepting applications and intends to issue licenses.

The question is, “how can the Township have cannabis businesses without a cannabis zoning ordinance?” The answer is that the Township decided it would rely in its already existing retail use under its Zoning Ordinance. As a simple retail use, cannabis businesses can be located anywhere a retail business is located, without separation distances from schools and without the other regulations Zoning Ordinance 25-01. In other words, even if voters reject Ordinance 25-01, the Township will still approve cannabis facilities, just with fewer rules and less oversight.

That’s not thoughtful planning. That’s policy by loophole.

Zoning laws exist to ensure that development is deliberate, safe, and aligned with community needs. What’s happening here circumvents those laws, and in doing so, undermines public trust. When residents see their Township pushing forward with a suspended ordinance and then pivoting to a workaround behind closed doors it’s hard to believe their input was ever truly valued.

More than a thousand residents have signed petitions demanding that this decision be put to a public vote before our township is reshaped forever. 

To date, we have not found a single township or city in Michigan, or anywhere in the country, that has tried to regulate cannabis businesses like nothing more than a simple retail use. If Niles Township continues down this path, it will be the first walking blindfolded into a legal and economic unknown.

This isn’t about being anti-cannabis. It’s about being pro-community. The future of our township should not be decided in closed-door meetings or buried in fine print. It should be shaped through dialogue, transparency, and the democratic process. If you believe the people of Niles Township deserve a real say in our future, now is the time to speak up. Join the effort to protect our local economy, preserve community space, and restore public trust. 

Tim Mann

Niles