Lincoln Park considering potential benefits after approving pot shops

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - While several other cities in the area voted against it Tuesday, Lincoln Park approved pot shops to come to the city.

He doesn't use marijuana but Lincoln Park resident Marshall Truchan joined nearly 2,000 voters to support a ballot proposal allowing marijuana establishments within the city's industrial district.

"Better than people fighting for it on the streets or doing illegal stuff to get it," he said.

It's a move that sets Lincoln Park apart from Allen Park, Keego Harbor, and Walled Lake where voters said no to allowing legal marijuana in their cities. In fact earlier this year, the Lincoln Park City Council opted out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses to operate in the city.

"The next day I reconsidered that vote and then we put it to table that, until we could have an investigation done so while all this was going down the voter initiative came out to where it was going to be voted on, of course, on November 5," said Lincoln Park Mayor Thomas Karnes.

Now now that voters have made their voices heard, Lincoln Park's mayor spoke about the next steps.

"See what locations that would be allowed, how it's going to affect the zoning," he said. 

But for now, the mayor doesn't see this as a major cash flow to the city.

"I don't know that it will be a great deal of cash," he said. 

But some local business say they see this passage as an economic boost for the city. 585 Tobacco already sells marijuana accessories and they're hoping after this proposal's passage, they want to get fully into the marijuana business.

"We're almost there, hopefully we can get the ball rolling and see how far we can go with it," said manager David Smith.