Robert Celt
New Member
The wording of a draft ordinance governing medical marijuana-related operations evoked confusion and heated discussion at a public hearing Monday, as the Planning Board tried to gather input on where these facilities should be allowed and what restrictions should be placed on them.
The public hearing was held at 7 p.m. as part of the Planning Board's regularly scheduled meeting in the council chambers at The Center.
The City Council at its Feb. 16 meeting voted 6-0 to adopt a 180-day moratorium on considering applications or permits for medical marijuana-related businesses in the city. Councilors also voted to refer to the Planning Board a request to develop recommendations for places where medical marijuana-related businesses should be and what restrictions should be associated with them.
Monday's public hearing was the first step in the board's process to draft recommendations.
City Planner Ann Beverage drafted a Marijuana Related Facilities ordinance, which included requirements that medical marijuana-related facilities be located at least 250 feet away from any school or place of worship as well as 250 feet from any residential district. The ordinance also states that the facility must be at least 1,000 feet from any other medical marijuana-related facility. Facilities may not be co-located with other businesses, have no medical marijuana products visible from the exterior of the property and be restricted to operate between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Odors emitted from the facility can not have a significant effect on abutting property.
Several members of the public, as well as Planning Board member and former chairman David Geller, had concerns with the wording of the ordinance and the scrutiny it placed on a legal sector of commerce.
"If this was a CVS, a Walgreen's or a Rite Aid, this would be a no-brainer," Bob Vear, a Waterville resident and medical marijuana caregiver, said. "For me, (medical marijuana-related facilities are) the same."
Waterville Attorney Charles T. Ferris attended the public hearing on behalf of two clients who are interested in bringing a medical marijuana operation to Waterville. He voiced dissatisfaction with medical-marijuana, as a legal business, being excluded from Waterville's downtown setting.
"On Main Street in Waterville we allow pharmacies, we allow bars, we allow tobacco shops. But we're not going to allow marijuana businesses? It doesn't seem to make any sense from a public policy standpoint," Ferris said. "We should not as a city try to limit the type of legal businesses in our downtown."
Ferris also pointed out that the ordinance as drafted would violate state law because it did not exempt medical marijuana caregivers, who are allowed to grow their product and distribute it to select numbers of patients. Many caregivers, Ferris said, are already in the geographic area that the ordinance is aiming to prohibit them from. "I think what you're going to end up with is a conflict between state and local law," he said.
According to the draft ordinance, medical marijuana-related facilities include dispensaries, cultivation operations and storehouses. Only the cultivation of marijuana for personal use is exempted from the ordinance.
As the ordinance is written, caregivers who are licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Maine Medical Marijuana Act to grow medical marijuana for up to six patients would face civil penalties if they violated its location and operation terms.
"The proposed ordinance as written, if it prohibits caregivers from doing what they are legally authorized to do and subjects them to a civil penalty, ... (the ordinance) would violate state law and we would be subjecting the city to a lawsuit, and I don't think that is a good idea," Geller said.
Planning Board Chairman Nick Champagne stressed that the drafted ordinance was merely a starting point for discussion and that it would be changed as the board continued to explore medical marijuana-related facilities and the state laws governing them. Champagne said that he wants to talk to a variety of people on the topic, including law enforcement and medical marijuana experts, before the board considers drafting a final ordinance or presenting the city council with suggestions.
"We have a lot of factors to consider," Champagne said.
Beverage drafted the ordinance using definitions presented in the City Council's moratorium and worked in ideas that she had taken from correspondence with Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey and Councilwoman Dana Bushee. The location restrictions in the drafted ordinance were taken from the city's ordinance on adult businesses, Beverage said.
Massey addressed the Board prior to the floor being opened to the public at Monday's meeting. He said that while he did not back the ordinance as it was written word for word, he did believe regulations should be established for medical marijuana-related facilities.
"I think it's reasonable that the city would come up with regulations or ordinances," Massey said.
The 180-day moratorium will give the board time to research appropriate locations for medical marijuana-related businesses as well as any restrictions that should be placed on them.
Waterville City Manager Michael Roy recently told the Morning Sentinel that the city hasn't been approached by anyone interested in establishing a medical marijuana-related business in the city, but that city officials want to be prepared for that scenario if it occurs.
Geller put forth a motion at Monday's meeting to not enact any ordinance that failed 1-6. The board voted to table further discussion until its March 21 meeting to give board members more time to review the topic.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: ME: Public Hearing On Medical Marijuana Businesses Prompts Legal Wrangling
Author: Lauren Abbate
Contact: CentralMaine.com
Photo Credit: None found
Website: CentralMaine.com
The public hearing was held at 7 p.m. as part of the Planning Board's regularly scheduled meeting in the council chambers at The Center.
The City Council at its Feb. 16 meeting voted 6-0 to adopt a 180-day moratorium on considering applications or permits for medical marijuana-related businesses in the city. Councilors also voted to refer to the Planning Board a request to develop recommendations for places where medical marijuana-related businesses should be and what restrictions should be associated with them.
Monday's public hearing was the first step in the board's process to draft recommendations.
City Planner Ann Beverage drafted a Marijuana Related Facilities ordinance, which included requirements that medical marijuana-related facilities be located at least 250 feet away from any school or place of worship as well as 250 feet from any residential district. The ordinance also states that the facility must be at least 1,000 feet from any other medical marijuana-related facility. Facilities may not be co-located with other businesses, have no medical marijuana products visible from the exterior of the property and be restricted to operate between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Odors emitted from the facility can not have a significant effect on abutting property.
Several members of the public, as well as Planning Board member and former chairman David Geller, had concerns with the wording of the ordinance and the scrutiny it placed on a legal sector of commerce.
"If this was a CVS, a Walgreen's or a Rite Aid, this would be a no-brainer," Bob Vear, a Waterville resident and medical marijuana caregiver, said. "For me, (medical marijuana-related facilities are) the same."
Waterville Attorney Charles T. Ferris attended the public hearing on behalf of two clients who are interested in bringing a medical marijuana operation to Waterville. He voiced dissatisfaction with medical-marijuana, as a legal business, being excluded from Waterville's downtown setting.
"On Main Street in Waterville we allow pharmacies, we allow bars, we allow tobacco shops. But we're not going to allow marijuana businesses? It doesn't seem to make any sense from a public policy standpoint," Ferris said. "We should not as a city try to limit the type of legal businesses in our downtown."
Ferris also pointed out that the ordinance as drafted would violate state law because it did not exempt medical marijuana caregivers, who are allowed to grow their product and distribute it to select numbers of patients. Many caregivers, Ferris said, are already in the geographic area that the ordinance is aiming to prohibit them from. "I think what you're going to end up with is a conflict between state and local law," he said.
According to the draft ordinance, medical marijuana-related facilities include dispensaries, cultivation operations and storehouses. Only the cultivation of marijuana for personal use is exempted from the ordinance.
As the ordinance is written, caregivers who are licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Maine Medical Marijuana Act to grow medical marijuana for up to six patients would face civil penalties if they violated its location and operation terms.
"The proposed ordinance as written, if it prohibits caregivers from doing what they are legally authorized to do and subjects them to a civil penalty, ... (the ordinance) would violate state law and we would be subjecting the city to a lawsuit, and I don't think that is a good idea," Geller said.
Planning Board Chairman Nick Champagne stressed that the drafted ordinance was merely a starting point for discussion and that it would be changed as the board continued to explore medical marijuana-related facilities and the state laws governing them. Champagne said that he wants to talk to a variety of people on the topic, including law enforcement and medical marijuana experts, before the board considers drafting a final ordinance or presenting the city council with suggestions.
"We have a lot of factors to consider," Champagne said.
Beverage drafted the ordinance using definitions presented in the City Council's moratorium and worked in ideas that she had taken from correspondence with Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey and Councilwoman Dana Bushee. The location restrictions in the drafted ordinance were taken from the city's ordinance on adult businesses, Beverage said.
Massey addressed the Board prior to the floor being opened to the public at Monday's meeting. He said that while he did not back the ordinance as it was written word for word, he did believe regulations should be established for medical marijuana-related facilities.
"I think it's reasonable that the city would come up with regulations or ordinances," Massey said.
The 180-day moratorium will give the board time to research appropriate locations for medical marijuana-related businesses as well as any restrictions that should be placed on them.
Waterville City Manager Michael Roy recently told the Morning Sentinel that the city hasn't been approached by anyone interested in establishing a medical marijuana-related business in the city, but that city officials want to be prepared for that scenario if it occurs.
Geller put forth a motion at Monday's meeting to not enact any ordinance that failed 1-6. The board voted to table further discussion until its March 21 meeting to give board members more time to review the topic.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: ME: Public Hearing On Medical Marijuana Businesses Prompts Legal Wrangling
Author: Lauren Abbate
Contact: CentralMaine.com
Photo Credit: None found
Website: CentralMaine.com
