The City of Traverse City is delaying its timeline for accepting applications for recreational marijuana retail and microbusiness permits due to pending litigation.

According to a city release, “due to lawsuits filed by Leoni Wellness and Sucurecann, Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power has ordered the City Clerk Benjamin Marentette to not accept applications for adult-use marijuana retail and microbusiness establishments. Therefore, the city will being announcing at a later date the status of when it may be accepting applications for adult-use marijuana retail and microbusiness establishments.” The city was originally set to begin accepting applications the week of November 30.

City commissioners agreed this week to hire outside legal counsel to help City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht respond to a number of lawsuits piling up against the city over its marijuana rules. Commissioners also directed Trible-Laucht to bring back recommendations for updating the scoring matrix the city will use to grade applications for recreational marijuana retail permits after Power questioned the legality of some criteria in the matrix.