NILES — At the intersection of N. 13th and Lake streets in Niles, construction crews are turning an industrial property once owned by Tyler Refrigeration into a medical marijuana grow facility owned by HDS Investments.
The startup’s neighbor across the street is a city-owned property of mowed grass and clumps of trees butted up against railroad tracks. Niles resident Eugene Leblang wants to use the space as a location for a marijuana grow startup.
The intersection is where opposing views of city council members collided Monday at a committee of the whole meeting at the Niles Fire Department Complex, 1345 E. Main St.
The disagreements stemmed from what was around the properties. Down 13th Street are rows of homes broken up by the occasional business, some large and expansive, and the beginning of a school zone.
On the other side of Lake Street are ball diamonds.
Some city councilmembers welcomed any interest in city-owned property and its $30,000 price tag. Others worried that the marijuana grow business that could occupy the industrial-zoned space create noxious odors and change the landscape of a neighborhood.
Regardless, HDS Investment’s grow facility is coming to the intersection of homes, business and ballparks. Whether Niles will consider a second grow facility to the area is up to the Council.
“If it’s zoned industrial, do we want industry to come to that property?” said Niles Mayor Nick Shelton. “If we don’t want it to be industrial property, then it shouldn’t be industrial property.”
Shelton posed this to the Council after a few minutes of debate among council members about a second marijuana grow facility potentially coming to the corner of 13th and Lake streets.
It effectively ended the conversation as well.
If Leblang purchases the property for marijuana growing, he will need to have his land use approved by the planning commission and the council. Then, he will have to comply with all ordinances, including keeping marijuana growth out of sight, providing security, not using marijuana signage and keeping odors from going past property limits.
Still, some council members had hesitations.
Council member Georgia Boggs was concerned about odor and children walking through it on the way to school.
Council member Jessica Nelson was concerned about the number of industries in a neighborhood with many residents. She said the area has changed. It housed many industrial properties decades ago.
Shelton said issues could be solved if the city’s two marijuana ordinances were followed and enforced properly.
“I don’t think we have a good justification to deny a business that has an interest in investing in an industrial business on that property the opportunity to buy it,” said council member John DiCostanzo. “We’re going to be foolish if we do.”
Council member Daniel VandenHeede offered alternatives for the space which would require it to be rezoned as residential property. He suggested encouraging all marijuana grow facilities to the former site of Simplicity Pattern Company, which is owned by another grow operation but has space for rent.
That would open up the property to become a park of some sort, an idea he said was considered years ago.
Leblang, the potential property purchaser, said he was ready to immediately buy the property if the city gave him clearance.
The Niles resident and four other investors, including Niles resident and Leliaert Insurance Agency owner Matt Leliaert, hope to grow up to 1,500 plants at the site.
Leblang is locally licensed in Constantine, Michigan, for growing, processing and provisioning, and he is locally licensed in Sturgis, Michigan, for provisioning.
“This is my hometown,” he said. “This is where I would like to be.”
Executive decisions cannot be made at committee of the whole meetings. Instead, the council advised City Administrator Ric Huff and his staff to look up the property’s history of ownership while the Council considers its options.

Making improvements

Before Niles’ committee of the whole meeting Monday, Niles City Council had its regular meeting. With Charlie McAfee absent, its members unanimously approved the following purchases and adopted the following resolutions:
• New equipment for a new Niles Police Department patrol vehicle. The cost was $5,667, and it was budgeted in the police department budget.
• Microsoft products for the information technology division, as budgeted by the department, at the cost of $7,190.
• A narcotics analyzer for the Niles Police Department made possible by a $31,312 foundation donation. Captain Kevin Kosten said the foundation wished to remain anonymous, but it approached the department and sought to find out what it needed.
The analyzer will allow officers to safely provide on-the-spot tests of substances they believe to be narcotics.
The analyzer, called TruNarc, will allow officers to test substances without removing them from their packaging. Police chief Jim Millin said that could protect officers from substances such as fentanyl, which some officers have reported makes them sick after physical contact.
• The emergency purchase of a scraper that can be attached under the body of a vehicle for plowing. The purchase from Monroe Trucking Equipment was $8,876.
• The adoption of a performance resolution for governmental agencies. This resolution, required by the Michigan Department of Transportation, authorizes Joe Ray, public works director, to apply for permits to work within MDOT rights of way within city limits.