The years-long marijuana turf war had seemingly stabilized late last year for the City of Menominee. But recent developments reveal the conflict is far from over. From allegations of unethical politics and lawsuits surround efforts by eight marijuana companies to operate in the resident town on the Wisconsin border. Since the battle began in 2021, Menominee officials, following a competitive application process, issued two marijuana retailer licenses to Rize and the Fire Station. Multiple businesses that didn’t win licenses filed lawsuits claiming the selection process was flawed. Those lawsuits were consolidated. While the lawsuit was dismissed last May, the suing businesses convinced the majority of the Menominee City Council to enter into a settlement agreement that guaranteed six new marijuana licenses to the challenging businesses, and uncapped limits on future marijuana licenses. The move led Rize and the Fire Station, the original licensed stores to sue, claiming the market expansion was unfair, in part, since Rize and the Fire Station developed business plans and invested based on the premise that they would be the only stores in town. In court yesterday, the plaintiffs filed a motion to amend their complaint. The Honorable Mary B. Barglind says, “the agreement here today is that this is a motion to dismiss with prejudice on counts one, two, and five.”
Attorneys involved in the ongoing lawsuit are headed to trial May 13th through the 17th,
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