Like many municipalities in Metro Detroit, Ferndale recently enacted a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses. But unlike many of its neighbors, Ferndale has ended its moratorium and will allow such businesses to locate in the city.

the City Council on Monday voted unanimously to amend zoning ordinances by allowing medical marijuana-related business owners to apply for special land use permits in light industrial, heavy industrial and -- provided less than 20 percent of their space is use for growing -- office districts.

The Clinical Relief medical marijuana dispensary, which opened before the moratorium and zoning amendment, will be grandfathered in and allowed to continue operations on Hilton Road.

"It was clear a majority of Ferndale voters approved medical marijuana," City Manager Robert Bruner told the newspaper. "The council was looking for a way to reasonably reflect the will of the people and I think we achieved that with these ordinances."

Mayor Craig Covey, who is running for a seat on the Oakland County commission, has suggested marijuana-friendly policies could help the city attract new businesses, referring to the "

" that have led other local communities to ban dispensaries in the wake of the voter-approved Michigan Medical Marihuana act of 2008.

"My feeling is people still think of college students smoking bongs," Covey

. "This is really about people who have illnesses using this as effective medicine."

Elsewhere in Metro Detroit, the Royal Oak City Commission r

to the state's largest medical marijuana warehouse, with one commissioner arguing for a

of the city's existing moratorium. Other communities such as Livonia, Troy and Birmingham have essentially banned the use of medical marijuana, deferring to federal law that considers any use of the drug illegal.

Meanwhile in Detroit, a group looking to legalize the possession of a small amount of marijuana by adults on public property is

to put the issue before voters.