ESCANABA — The Escanaba City Council brought the city one step closer to allowing commercial marijuana businesses to operate within the city’s borders Thursday by holding the first readings of two ordinances that facilitate the transition from opted-out of commercial marijuana to opted-in.

The first readings came after the council made changes to the proposed “regulatory” ordinance — which outlines things like the procedure businesses would need to follow to become licensed — to make more types of businesses legal in the city. Specifically, the council moved to allow medical marijuana establishments and microbusinesses operating at the lowest licensing level.

Discussion at prior council meetings had led to the removal of medical marijuana facilities primarily because these types of businesses are less popular in the wake of recreational marijuana being so readily available to consumers. However, upon reconsideration Thursday, the council voted to allow medical marijuana as an acceptable business type, opening the door to businesses that stack licenses to cater to both recreational users and those with a prescription.

“I’m not inclined to exclude it,” said Mayor Mark Ammel.

Microbusinesses, which are smaller operations that produce, process and sell marijuana products within a single business, were also reconsidered Thursday. Council members had previously felt the businesses were simply less likely to locate in the city due to their small-scale nature and, by extension, limited earning potential. However, Council Member Tyler DuBord suggested there were already businesses interested in opening in the city that followed the microbusiness model.

“It wasn’t really a viable thing. It wasn’t a common industry where we had people with micros popping up all over in most other municipalities. That was kind of just the thought pattern of (excluding) it. But I know that we see some people that are interested in coming to the city to do a micro,” he said.

Despite the addition of microbusinesses to the ordinance, the microbusiness class remains one of the most restricted business types in an otherwise largely permissive ordinance. While the state expanded micro businesses to include both the base level license, which allows operations with up to 150 plants, and an expanded 300-plant license, the council voted Thursday to only allow microbusinesses at the 150-plant level.

Despite not technically being part of the city’s regulatory ordinance, the council also weighed in on the hours marijuana establishments can operate. The council set the hours, which will be included in a separate zoning ordinance, to allow retail marijuana establishments to operate only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. and restricts deliveries to between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Those hours could be extended by businesses if they are approved by the city for a special use permit.

Two things were banned entirely by the council Thursday: temporary marijuana event licenses and the consumption of marijuana inside a commercial marijuana establishment. None of the council members expressed interest in allowing marijuana consumption in businesses, but it was discussed that the ordinance could be amended to allow temporary event licenses in the future.

The second ordinance introduced Thursday is designed extend the sunset clause on the city’s current ordinance opting the city out of commercial marijuana businesses. Extending the sunset to Sept. 30 would allow the city a cushion as it tries to get a new ordinance in place. The current ordinance is set to expire Sept. 16, and if new ordinances are not in place by that time that either extend the sunset or regulate marijuana establishments, there will be no regulation on commercial marijuana in the city outside of the bare-bones regulations outlined in state law.

Both ordinances will be readdressed at the Sept. 1 regular city council meeting. At that meeting, the council will hold a second reading, residents will be able to weigh in during a public hearing, and the council will vote whether or not to approve the ordinances.

In other business, the council:

– Heard an update on the pending sales and redevelopment of the former Delta County Jail and Chamber of Commerce sites. Currently, the city is negotiating purchase agreements and assessments are being conducted on the properties.

– Approved the renewal of a contract with the Delta County Prosecutor’s Office for the handling of cases related to misdemeanor ordinance violations. The contract was lost in the shuffle at the start of the city’s fiscal year and the reorganization of the prosecutor’s office prompted by the resignation of Former Prosecutor Brett Gardner. It includes an increase in payment to the prosecutor’s office, and in exchange, the prosecutor’s office will take on the significant number of dog bite cases in the city.

– Approved the use of Ludington Street for the annual Escanaba High School Homecoming Parade.

– Approved a special event application for the annual UPtoberFest Celebration. The event will take place in Ludington Park on Sunday, Oct. 8.

– Went into closed session on two items related to City Manager Patrick Jordan. The first closed session item was a written attorney opinion from City Attorney Lisa Vogler on whether or not publishing the city manager’s reviews in the media opened the city up to a lawsuit. The second closed session item was to review a legal opinion sought by an adhoc committee formed to renegotiate the Jordan’s contract. The opinion was from an attorney not typically used by the city and retained for this specific purpose.