WILTON — Selectmen will hold a special town meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Town Office for voters to consider enacting an ordinance establishing a 180-day moratorium on adult-use marijuana establishments.
Voters approved adding marijuana-use tables to the Zoning Ordinance at the June town meeting. The tables encompass both medical and adult-use marijuana retail stores, manufacturing facilities, testing facilities and registered dispensaries. No other regulations were put in place at that time.
“I’d like to get it spelled out in ours,” Code Enforcement Officer Charlie Lavin told the Board of Selectpersons Tuesday, Nov. 19. “Right now, ours is based on zones. We didn’t go the next step and really draft something that gives process to the town.”
The town’s attorney put together a detailed warrant for the upcoming meeting, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said.
“The warrant covers everything to slow down or stop adult-use establishments while they (Planning Board) work on developing the ordinance,” she said. “They have already started pulling out some examples so they can start working on it.”
Farmington has a detailed ordinance; Eustis has one that is more concise, Lavin said.
“The State has a very good, thorough process,” he said. “It is much like a liquor license.”
Using the Farmington ordinance as an example, Lavin said there could be three steps to the permitting process.
“The state does criminal background checks, fingerprinting and reviews applications for a conditional license,” he explained.
Once a conditional license is obtained, the local Planning Board looks at location, zoning and security plans.
“Then it goes to the selectboard for a public hearing,” he said. “Then, the selectboard votes on it very much like you do with a liquor license.”
In the example Lavin gave, annual selectboard approval would be needed for permitting an adult use establishment.
“I think it will be one of the easier ordinances to put together because there are good examples already written,” Lavin said. “I would like to have it as a stand-alone ordinance and not try to nest it in the zoning ordinance.”
Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri said she was in favor of the moratorium.
“I support this so we can thoughtfully go through and look at, not only what others are doing, but to do what is right for this town,” she said. “I think it is prudent for us to move forward for a moratorium. Not permanently, but for enough time for us to make sure we have ordinances in place.”
If approved, the moratorium could be extended with voter approval. Once the Planning Board drafts an ordinance, it would need voter approval to be enacted.
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