Orchard Lake appears to have dodged an marijuana initiative that other small communities in Oakland County may face this year.

City officials and residents learned the details during a special meeting Wednesday evening featuring an attorney for a cannabis retailer. More than 40 residents attended. While not a standing-room-only crowd, Mayor Norm Finkelstein said it was the most he’d seen at a city council meeting in a long time. He praised residents for their polite behavior.

The meeting opened with city attorney Mary M. Kucharek explaining the proposed ordinance and Orchard Lake’s options. The city council could accept the ordinance as is or make amendments, she said, or the city could create its own ordinance and put it before the voters. The city could also let the petition drive unfold.

In any case, she said, city officials are barred from using city money to campaign for or against such efforts.

Attorney Anderson Grandstaff told the city council he was representing Belleville-based Blue Sky Cannabis Co. owner Sam Pernick.

City officials closely questioned Grandstaff about his client’s plans, how such a shop would be staffed, what location was planned and what degree of influence Pernick would have on the proposed ordinance.

Grandstaff said the ordinance language he submitted could be amended but if his client did not like it, he could still pursue a petition drive to put his own ordinance before the voters. One of the non-negotiable items, Grandstaff said, was the language defining the complex scoring system for granting a permit to an applicant.

A petition drive would need fewer than 100 signatures, he said — a number that city officials agreed was likely accurate.

“If the city adopts this ordinance, it would save a lot of work,” Grandstaff said. “I don’t see why we can’t have that candid conversation right away.”

In November, voters in three smaller cities in Oakland County — Rochester, Birmingham, and Keego Harbor — rejected similar recreational marijuana sales proposals on their respective ballots.

During the public comment period in Orchard Lake, at least a dozen residents spoke. Some said they were not opposed to people using marijuana in their own homes. Their concerns ranged from traffic, boating and water safety in the recreational community to easy access to marijuana retailers in nearby communities and the need to limit children’s access to the drug.

Resident Joyce Herman initially asked how such a business would benefit the city and how it would benefit the residents. Grandstaff said some taxes would be returned to the city. Herman said the main beneficiary would be the business owner.

Resident Suzanne Bell said whatever the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting, residents had to remain alert and communicate with family, neighbors and friends so they wouldn’t get surprised by a recreational marijuana ballot proposal. She said if a petition drive started, residents needed to start their own campaign to defeat such a ballot proposal.

“Your client is from Belleville and you’re kinda hoping the city changes its mind,” said resident Carolyn Pender, who went on to list Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake and West Bloomfield among communities like Orchard Lake that have rejected recreational marijuana sales. She said anyone who wanted marijuana could visit nearby communities or get discreet deliveries, “So why does a man from Belleville want to come to Orchard Lake?”

Applause erupted from those in the audience, as it did for many speakers.

Resident Gary Collins said in his career as an attorney specializing in education, he has learned a lot about the problems caused when children have easier access to drugs, adding “more dispensaries means more access. That is not to the benefit of our children.”

Another resident, James Bielenda, said Michigan has one of the highest number of dispensaries in the nation, adding, “I don’t want to see a House of Dank in Orchard Lake.”

Asked by the city’s mayor pro tem Bruce McIntyre how many times Grandstaff had sued a municipality over a marijuana ordinance, the attorney said “about five,” adding that litigation is less likely because there’s a growing body of case law to guide cities.

Either way, McIntyre said, the city would have to pay for legal representation.

Finkelstein asked if it was true the relative value of marijuana businesses had “dropped considerably for the owners.”

Grandstaff said that was true for some areas of the industry but that “retail has been more resilient.”

By Thursday morning, the city’s building manager, Gerry McCallum, announced Grandstaff had emailed the city to say his client was no longer interested in pursuing the ordinance change, petition drive or a retail location in Orchard Lake.

“I guess the meeting did what it was intended to do,” McCallum said.

Other communities that have opted out but are now listed on campaign finance records as having similar survey committees: Clawson, Keego Harbor, Oak Park and Wixom.

Last year, survey committees filed campaign paperwork for Sylvan Lake, South Lyon and Farmington.

All of the community survey campaign paperwork was filed by Keri Knipple, an agent for the real estate firm Canna Zoned, with a Stockbridge, Michigan, address. Grandstaff said he does not represent Knipple or Canna Zoned.

People who received the surveys in other communities have called city officials thinking their municipality sent out the letter, as happened in Orchard Lake.

In Clawson, the Jan. 31 formation of a survey committee was a surprise. Commissioner Penny Luebs said she had not heard about it, nor had some city officials.