Concerns as Niles Charter Township gives green light to 'Green Mile'  

"This was my mom's thing," said Halie Rogge, manager at Jeannie's Diner.

The diner was started by, and named after, her late mother, Jeannie.

"Yeah, it's been a family business for a long time, so, move on to a new chapter I guess," she said.

They already sold off their South Bend location to new owners, and now this location is to be sold to a marijuana dispensary trying to open.

"It's definitely sad but, it's hard to-- when your property is only worth so much and you get offered a lot more than your property's worth, I mean, it's just kind of a no brainer," Rogge said. "Especially with all of the food prices and it's just been hard to make it by."

Monday night, the Niles Charter Township Board approved 21 marijuana establishment applications, all located on South 11th Street between Stateline Road and Fulkerson Road.

This comes after the board passed an April ordinance allowing an unlimited number of pot shops.

Rogge said it's too soon for anything to be set in stone.

"If the permits were going through and then obviously, there's more legal stuff, so, they'll have to figure that all out," she said.

But while some things are still up in the air, zoning, pending litigation, they're staying open as normal.

ABC57's Annie Kate asked nearby shoppers in Niles Charter Township what they think. Some were against weed full stop.

"All it's going to do is get young kids and everything else hooked to it, next thing you know, they're going to get a prison term," said Mike Gentry. "That's where my brother's at now over it."

"I have a very close relative that's addicted to marijuana. And it's just taken him down," said Wilson Green, who says he is a local pastor. "People say it's not a gateway drug; I believe that it is... I just personally, and with my faith, do not believe that it's positive for our community."

Others were frustrated at the oversaturated market and what it means for other businesses.

"It's more of an annoyance and a hindrance at this point. I don't feel like we need more dispensaries, we have enough," said Charles McClain. "It seems like we're losing all these other businesses for the [township] to be able to make some money."

"Just really don't think that we need that many store, you know, we got quite a few of them," said David Jackson. "I don't know what the need is for that many more, really."

But some were hopeful about the promise of revenue to the township.

"I agree with it, we need the jobs, and the taxes help improve the roads in the community," said Dennis Brandon.

"I agree with it because a lot of it helps people with cancer and all that, helps with their pain and everything," said Lynne Vermilyer. "I think it's too many, but you know, you can't stop it."

President and CEO of the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce, Jeff Rea, says it's doubtful all the pot shops will actually open.

"I think a couple things will happen here; you'll see some redevelopment of some pieces of property that probably need some redevelopment in that corridor. There may be, in the beginning, a little bit of an overbuild, maybe more than we expect, then some of those will obviously survive and some won't survive, and then we'll have some properties that have been redeveloped and ready, then, for the next user," he said.

The township put a moratorium on further applications for marijuana establishments for the rest of the year after approving the existing applications Monday night. Niles Charter Township will still accept marijuana establishment applications until Friday, June 20, at 4:30 p.m. They will not accept any more after that point until Jan. 2, 2026.

Due to pending litigation regarding the township's marijuana ordinance, no one from the township could do an interview with ABC57 for this story.