UPDATE: The city commission voted 5-1 to approve the six-month moratorium, with Commissioner Senita Lenear as the lone "no" vote. Commissioner Jon O'Connor was absent.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids will no longer be accepting applications for medical marijuana facilities beginning Nov. 1.

In making the decision Tuesday, city officials determined that the original timeline was unrealistic.

Based on the new timeline, applications to open medical marijuana facilities in the city wouldn't happen until 2019.

The city commission is expected to vote Tuesday night, Sept. 18, to place a moratorium on accepting applications for six months, or until the city can hold additional public meetings and finalize amendments to the medical marijuana ordinance.

"What I've heard loud and clear is meeting that deadline of Nov. 1 is not realistic," said Mayor Rosalynn Bliss. "We won't be accepting applications as of Nov. 1."

But at least one local cannabis expert disagrees.

Matt Hoffman, chair of The National Cannabis Industry Association and Michigan speaker for The Marijuana Policy Project, said the businesses pursuing licenses in Grand Rapids are "acting with incredible speed."

Asked if small, local perspective business owners were the ones the commission was looking out for by delaying the process, Hoffman said those who are upset about the Nov. 1 application opening date never had a chance to get into the industry anyway due to the city's ordinance, which he called restrictive.

"That's a problem created by the commission," Hoffman said. "When the planning (commission) had their map, it was robust with ample opportunities for even the little guys. When the city commission cut it down, they created a climate of hyper-inflated real estate prices because of the scarceness of availability.

"Little guys having any chance of participating was kiboshed by the city commission itself."

Grand Rapids adopted its medical marijuana ordinance on July 24 by a 6-0 vote. The ordinance will allow medical marijuana facilities within city limits with special land use approval, but will limit the potential locations based on established separation distances.

A Nov. 1 application acceptance date was set. City staff anticipated a rush of applicants, so they decided to use a lottery process for the first day of applications, with later applications to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

On Tuesday morning, the commission agreed during a meeting to push back the acceptance date to allow more time for city staff, as well as time for the commission, to consider amendments and perspective business owners time to work through the licensing and application processes.

The commission was supposed to spend more than two hours in a work session Tuesday to discuss amendments and a timeline related to the marijuana ordinance, but delayed it until Oct. 9 to allow the new city manager, Mark Washington who will officially start next month, and City Commissioner Jon O'Connor, who was absent Tuesday, to be involved.

O'Connor was out of town for work on Tuesday. He has been the most vocal commissioner in terms of supporting a regulated medical marijuana industry in Grand Rapids.

"While I am eager to get the process started for accepting applications, I know there is additional work needed to be prepared for formulating rules and implementation," O'Connor told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. "I would have been supportive of a moratorium until after the election in November to work on rules, however six months is far too long to keep patients from legally accessing their medication here in Grand Rapids."

Some of the issues to be hashed out during the work session include whether or not to keep the pre-qualification requirement of the ordinance, and how the commission wants to incorporate voluntary equitable development agreements (VETA) into the process.

Multiple commissioners said Tuesday they've heard community members who are interested in getting into the industry say they wanted more time to understand and work through the process.

"We've talked to several individuals and groups who are making every effort to apply for licenses and to engage in this business and they've made it perfectly clear it's moving pretty fast," said Second Ward Commissioner Joe Jones.

"There's a lot of complexity to it and there are probably others in our community who are much more experienced who could have everything done by November but in an effort to give best possible opportunities for local ownership, that's why I'm in favor of pushing it back and having this moratorium."

Hoffman said the individuals who weren't going to be ready by November didn't have a seat at the table anyway due to the competitiveness of the industry and limited opportunities in Grand Rapids.

As an example, Hoffman said he knows of a business that made a $1.7 million offer for a 2,500-square-foot property in the city for the purpose of opening a marijuana facility, and it was denied because there was a bigger offer on the table.

"That's astronomical in price per square feet, it's Manhattan prices in Grand Rapids," Hoffman said. "What I've found during planning sessions is there are people grossly under-realizing what's required financially and in terms of business resources to get into this industry.

"This is a business. There will be winners and losers. Welcome to the jungle."

Additionally, he said the delay will hurt those who have already purchased properties and now have to hold onto them for as long as six months before moving forward with their applications.

Commissioners varied in their interest in a three-month, six-month or indefinite moratorium Tuesday, but they agreed upon six months with an expectation that they could lift the moratorium if they amended the ordinance before six months was up.

They'll officially vote on the moratorium Tuesday at their 7 p.m. meeting at the Dominican Center at Marywood, 2025 Fulton St. SE.

Mike Tuffelmire, former director of Decriminalize GR and a board member for Michigan Legalize and the Michigan Cannabis Caucus, said he's worried that a delay will cause Grand Rapids to miss out on "the great economic wave" associated with the cannabis industry.

Additionally, Tuffelmire said the moratorium would have negative consequences on patients who could have to wait as long as another six months to have easy access to their medication.

"That means another six months for an elderly woman suffering from cancer who has to drive an hour to get her medicine and not commit a crime," Tuffelmire said.

Hoffman anticipates public backlash in response to the ordinance's delayed start. He said it was a mistake for the group behind the Smart & Safe GR ballot initiative to back away from its proposal and trust that the city would move forward with its ordinance.

"This pushes progress back," Hoffman said. "What we're seeing here seems to be preemptive and calculated. This was a calculated move in seeing what would happen in November (with the statewide recreational marijuana ballot proposal) and how it would change the landscape."