NILES — Niles City Council members, residents and marijuana business members discussed and debated the city’s potential identity as a marijuana business hub at its 6 p.m. meeting at the Niles Fire Department Complex Monday.

Among 18 items for action or discussion were two city attorney reports that would allow recreational marijuana businesses to seek to locate in the city and an amendment to the zoning ordinance that would allow the city to regulate and permit land use for recreational marijuana businesses.

No decision will be made until the council hosts a second hearing Sept. 9. Viewpoints on the city attorney’s reports were made apparent, however.

Much of the discussion drew back to a comment Brown City, Michigan, resident Gary Vettese made during public comments. He is the chief operator of Rosenburg Holdings, which was approved for a provisional medical marijuana license later that night. Once a license becomes available, it will likely obtain one.

“With your support, we can make Niles the epicenter of cannabis processing in the Midwest,” Vettese said.

Councilmember Daniel VandenHeede said he thought that decisions regarding marijuana were moving too fast. He said Niles’ identity has changed over the years, but he did not want its new identity to be marijuana-related.

“If I were choosing a town to move to now with a family, unless I was starting a marijuana business, I don’t think I’d want to move to the epicenter of marijuana of Michigan,” he said.

VandenHeede recently came back to Niles from a vacation across multiple states, some of which had legalized recreational marijuana before Michigan.

He said he saw some cities that included marijuana business as well. Others put those businesses at the forefront, and he thought it appeared to create some family, nuisance and safety issues.

VandenHeede said that Niles has had a number of identities over the years, such as a destination for history and antique malls, but he did not want the city to go “whole hog” and become a city similar to the types he saw on vacation.

“It seems that we are destined to be known for marijuana,” he said. “That may be fine, too, but I don’t want that to be our identity. I don’t want us to be the epicenter of marijuana in Michigan.”

Councilmember Jessica Nelson said that Niles’ identity would not change, and a marijuana business’ presence in the city would not negatively change the community around it.

“Anyone that knows Niles knows this as a manufacturing community,” she said. “This is going along those same lines.”

Mayor Nick Shelton, who only votes during a tie, said he wanted Niles’ identity to be a pro-business, pro-family, pro-history and pro-education community. Marijuana business could have a place in that, he said.

“We can have more than one identity,” Shelton said.

Councilmember Charlie McAfee, who kept a low profile when it came to marijuana topics this summer, appeared to have the insight most favored by the audience. The full room was overtaken by claps at the end of her report.

“Personally, when I accepted and ran for this office, I told the people of my ward and my area that I would be their voices,” she said. “I would not decide for them. I would be their voices. The voices of the people. To me, that is the idea behind being in the seat I’m in right now.”

McAfee represents Niles’ third ward. Nearly 72 percent of 2018 voters approved in that ward approved of making recreational marijuana legal in Michigan, compared to 69 percent citywide.

“It’s not me saying, ‘No, you can’t have it — unless you’re my child,’” said McAfee, who garnered laughs from the audience. “Basically, I’m doing what my ward says they want me to do.”

VandenHeede and councilmember Georgia Boggs were visibly upset during some comments made by McAfee, Nelson, Shelton and John DiCostanzo in opposition to theirs. Both Boggs and VandenHeede have voted against pro-marijuana business measures this summer.

The council must not only decide whether to allow recreational marijuana businesses but how to do so if it passes. Both proposed ordinances would not only allow such businesses to exist, but the ordinances would also regulate them.

If the ordinances are approved with similar wordage to the city’s current medical marijuana businesses, that would mean recreational marijuana businesses would need to be approved for a state license before applying for a city license. Then, the business could only build on a designated number of correctly zoned parcels, sometimes requiring a special land use request to do so.

The businesses would also need to follow development rules, accept regular inspections and comply with public nuisance laws, such as odor restrictions and limited signage.

Many medical marijuana businesses working to build in Niles have stated they would seek recreational marijuana licensure in the future if ordinances allowing them were passed.