FLINT, MI — A proposed ordinance that would have temporarily prohibited new businesses from growing, processing and selling recreational marijuana within city limits failed following a split Flint City Council vote.

Had the council passed the ordinance, Flint would have opted out of state guidelines establishing a recreational marijuana industry inside city limits.

The proposal, which council approved the first reading of on Sept. 23, doesn’t prohibit existing medical marijuana centers from selling recreational marijuana or prevent residents from consuming it. The potential ordinance failed after council voted 4-4 on the proposal at its Oct. 14 general meeting. Council members Eric Mays, Ward 1; Maurice Davis, Ward 2; Jerri Winfrey-Carter, Ward 5, and Herb Winfrey, Ward 6, voted against it. A majority vote would have been needed to approve the proposal.

One of two things can now happen: The same ordinance can be brought to council for a vote in 30 days or a new ordinance, with different wording, can be brought before council at its next general meeting. Councilman Santino Guerra, Ward 3, voted in favor of the ordinance, stating it’s the city’s best option because it would allow for additional time to draft and finalize a better ordinance for recreational marijuana.

“This (ordinance) is the best route to go," Guerra said. “It’s a partial opt-in because the medical marijuana facilities are allowed to sell recreational marijuana. If we have a better ordinance, we can adopt it at our next meeting. That could happen within a month.”

The public hearing before the vote was cast lasted three hours and all 10 residents who spoke asked council to vote against the proposed ordinance. The concern of leaving small business owners and caregivers behind while allowing medical marijuana centers to sell recreational marijuana was echoed by the residents.

Zach Demkins, a Flint resident and medical marijuana caregiver for 10 years, said passing the ordinance would prevent small businesses from participating in the recreational marijuana market.

“It would prevent us (caregivers) from being competitive in the market,” Demkins said. “(The city is) trying to shut us out when realistically (big companies) don’t live here or pay city taxes. Us caregivers, we all live here and pay taxes. All we want to do is just open the door to the public. Without being here at the same time and without having an equal opportunity of transitioning into this license, we’re not going to be able to compete.”

Under the ordinance, new businesses would be prohibited from growing, manufacturing, processing and selling recreational marijuana in Flint. The proposal would allow medical marijuana facilities to get their recreational marijuana licenses immediately, so they can sell recreational marijuana. People 21 years of age or older are still allowed to consume recreational marijuana.

The ordinance would have been automatically repealed a year after adoption. Justin Dunaskiss, vice president of Dunaskiss Consulting and Development Inc., said a year is too long. Dunaskiss has been a policy consultant for 18 years and began cannabis consulting in 2013.

“It’s opportunity costs. There are people who want to open up these facilities and they’re going to go where it’s allowed. But if you’re too late to the party, they’re going to be somewhere else,” Dunaskiss said.

In terms of fairness, Dunaskiss said, “stifling it (recreational marijuana) is just compounding the bigger players that come in.”

“You don’t want to give time for them to come into the market. They come in eventually,” Dunaskiss said. "But allow for the local players to come in before there is more and more pressure from outside companies.”

The proposed temporary ordinance was created to allow city officials to create regulations surrounding the growing, manufacturing, processing and selling of recreational marijuana. The additional time is required to get resident and stakeholder feedback, according to a fact sheet from the Flint Law Department. For instance, a permanent ordinance drafted later would outline where recreational marijuana could be grown, manufactured, processed and sold.

Flint will have until Nov. 1, when the state will begin accepting recreational marijuana applications, to draft another recreational marijuana ordinance. If the city doesn’t adopt an ordinance of its own by then, it is required to follow the state’s regulations for growing, processing and selling recreational marijuana.