Opinion
SC 165698 COA 359144
11-01-2024
BLUE WATER CANNABIS COMPANY, LLC, d/b/a PUFF CANNABIS COMPANY, H.O.D. WESTLAND, LLC, HENNDOGS HOLDINGS, LLC, d/b/a GREEN VIBE, and ATTITUDE WELLNESS, LLC, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF WESTLAND, WESTLAND CITY COUNCIL, WESTLAND MARIJUANA SELECTION COMMITTEE, JAMES HART, JAMES GODBOUT, TASHA GREEN, MICHAEL LONDEAU, PETER HERZBERG, MIKE McDERMOTT, and ANDREA RUTKOWSKI, Defendants-Appellees, And MHS WESTLAND, LLC, and EXCLUSIVE BRANDS, LLC,Plaintiffs-Appellants, And HARPER VENTURES, LLC,Plaintiff-Appellee, And COMBINED CANNABIS OF MICHIGAN, LLC, Intervening Plaintiff-Appellant, And CANDID LABS, LLC, Intervening Plaintiff, And QUALITY ROOTS, INC., MPM-R VIII, LLC, and KARVOL ENTERPRISES, LLC, Intervening Defendants-Appellees.
Wayne CC: 21-003413-CZ
Elizabeth T. Clement, Chief Justice Brian K. Zahra David F. Viviano Richard H. Bernstein Megan K. Cavanagh Elizabeth M. Welch Kyra H. Bolden, Justices.
ORDER
By order of November 22, 2023, the application for leave to appeal the April 13, 2023 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in Pinebrook Warren, LLC v City of Warren (Docket Nos. 164869-77). On order of the Court, the case having been decided on July 31, 2024, Mich. (2024), the application is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE that part of the judgment of the Court of Appeals addressing whether the Selection Committee violated the Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.261 et seq., and REMAND this case to that court for reconsideration in light of Pinebrook Warren. In all other respects, leave to appeal is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the remaining questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
We do not retain jurisdiction.
Viviano, J. (concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur in the order to the extent that it denies leave to appeal. But for reasons similar to those stated in my dissent in Pinebrook Warren, LLC v City of Warren, Mich. (July 31, 2024) (Docket Nos. 164869 through 164877), I do not believe the city of Westland's Marijuana Selection Committee violated the Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.261 et seq. Therefore, I would deny leave to appeal as to the entire application.
Zahra, J., joins the statement of Viviano, J.