Puff doorway, Oct. 6, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
MENOMINEE, MI (WTAQ-WLUK) — PUFF Cannabis Company is suing the city of Menominee, Michigan, for at least $20 million in compensatory damages.
The city is refusing PUFF’s occupancy permit, but city officials say their hands are tied.
At one point, PUFF offered the city of Menominee a settlement that would have allowed the dispensary to open without awarding any monetary damages. However, the city declined that offer.
City Manager Brett Botbyl said that’s because the city is legally prohibited from issuing new marijuana licenses due to a court order in place from a previous case. In a recent vote, Menominee residents approved an ordinance that capped the number of cannabis stores in the city at nine.
Menominee Mayor Casey Hoffman said right now, the city is below that limit.
“There are currently eight dispensaries open in the city of Menominee. PUFF would be the ninth and that would not violate the court order,” Hoffman said.
Last month, PUFF asked for a temporary injunction which would have allowed the store to open. A judge rejected that request.
PUFF claims the city of Menominee approved its license in December 2024, with an expected opening of July 2025. But the business has yet to receive its occupancy permit. The city says the store hasn’t met all of the Department of Transportation requirements.
Hoffman said each day PUFF isn’t open, the more it will cost the city and its taxpayers in the long run.
“By taking a strategy of inaction and atrophy, the city council and the city manager’s office are betting the farm in the city of Menominee. This is inappropriate,” Hoffman said.
He believes the city will lose this court case.
“I think that PUFF Cannabis and the other companies that are waiting in the wings in the city of Menominee have vested property rights under the law,” Hoffman said.
As for what Botbyl thinks of Hoffman openly stating the city will lose in court?
“He is entitled to say what he chooses, but he does not have any Administrative Authority,” Botbyl said.
Hoffman said the most likely solution will be a settlement with PUFF. He’s already told the city’s legal team to work with PUFF on creating such an agreement. Hoffman said he will then call an emergency council meeting and ask for a roll call vote.
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