NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WNDU) – Has anyone else noticed the booming number of marijuana dispensaries in the New Buffalo area?
New Buffalo Township is home to 20 dispensaries, and six of them are packed tightly into one area near the intersection of M-239 and Interstate 94 just over the Indiana border.
“It is a very competitive market right now,” says Sarah Schroeder, administrative manager at Border Buds. “It’s very saturated, it’s very densely populated.”
But Schroeder doesn’t necessarily see competition as a bad thing. In fact, she argues it can offer an economic boost for the community.
“New Buffalo being such a small community, not all of these people are coming from New Buffalo to work in these shops,” Schroeder says. “So, neighboring communities that have a little bit more of an income disparity. Now there’s lower income entry level people come here and they’re getting jobs that are coming in with starting wages that are well above or even double minimum wage in the counties they are coming from.”
But one dispensary at this intersection doesn’t have to follow the same rules as the other shops.
Rolling Embers was the first dispensary built in the township, but it’s built on Pokagon tribal ground, meaning that it’s not subject to Michigan dispensary laws.
They didn’t need a license or approval from the township and outdoor consumption is allowed, making it one of the only dispensaries in the state with an outdoor consumption lounge.
But with the addition of several other dispensaries, they may have maxed out the area.
“For the future, we’ve already prohibited any new dispensaries, so we don’t allow that in our zoning ordinance at all anymore,” says New Buffalo Township Supervisor Michelle Heit. “So, what we have is what we have. As they close, that special land use will expire after 12 months of them being closed as well, so we won’t be accepting any more applications.”
The City of Niles has the highest number of marijuana licenses in Berrien County with seven, but New Buffalo Township trails right behind with six.
Again, it’s to be determined if there will be any further approvals of dispensaries at the M-239 and I-94 intersection, but Heit says she is expecting four more to likely get approved next month.
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