A lawsuit was filed against the city of Wenatchee, Washington on Tuesday over its City Council's decision to not allow marijuana businesses set up shop in town.

According to Al Jazeera America, City Council members voted to in favor of banning marijuana businesses last October because they argued that pot usage and distribution is still a federal crime despite Washington voters legalizing recreational marijuana use in the 2012 elections.

"Federal law is superior over state," Councilman Bryan Campbell told The Associated Press.

Shaun Preder, a prospective marijuana shop owner, filed the lawsuit in the Chelan County Superior Court to challenge the city's policy that no business will be granted a license to operate if it is in violation of federal law.

Preder's attorney, Hilary Bricken of the Canna Law Group, said Wenatchee isn't the only city in Washington to have issued a ban on pot shops but it's the only one that cited federal law as its reasoning to place the moratorium on pot businesses.

The city of Wenatchee could have "created an exemption to (its business license) code that would have allowed for state marijuana business," Bricken argued. "They opted not to do it. They did it solely based on federal prohibition. They stated that in the record."

Bricken added that once the City Council stated its purpose, it could not go back and change its reasoning, Al Jazeera reported.

"Our position is that they are not authorized to do that," she said. "They cannot go back and say, 'We may have said we're for federal prohibition, but now we're for the children.'"

Wenatchee's city attorney, Steve Smith, admitted that he was surprised to have received the lawsuit despite the statewide confusion regarding the implementation of Initiative 502. He said the confusion stems from the federal government promising not to challenge the state laws but Washing Attorney General Bob Ferguson saying municipalities having the right to ban the businesses.

"It really needs to be straightened out at a higher level," Smith said. "You just put these local officials in an impossible position."

Bricken argued that Washington voters approved the initiative and it's not up to local municipalities to decide what state laws are enforced and which aren't, according to Al Jazeera.

"Our position is you can't pick and choose the state laws you want to enforce," Bricken said. "This is a people's initiative. That means something, and that should be honored. You can't just opt out because you want to hide your head in the sand because of federal prohibition."