SKOWHEGAN — Selectmen agreed Tuesday night to just say no to allowing and regulating the sale and recreational use of marijuana in retail shops and social clubs in Skowhegan.

By consensus, not a formal vote, the four selectmen at the meeting directed Town Manager Christine Almand to ask the Planning Board to come up with an ordinance to ban marijuana establishments in Skowhegan.

Board Chairman Donald Skillings told fellow selectmen they had two choices Tuesday night, in light of Skowhegan residents voting 2,152-1,879 against Question 1 on the statewide ballot Nov. 8.

The first, Skillings said, was to have the Planning Board design an ordinance to allow establishments “from one to a plethora” for the sale and legal consumption of marijuana.

“The next avenue is to say that the town does not want marijuana retail establishments or any of the other things that are applicable to that law and to just say ‘no – not in Skowhegan,'” Skillings said.

Selectmen, with Betty Austin absent, said they would go with the will of Skowhegan voters.

“I would say that if we’re going to go with the voters, then we would go with the latter and go with the no,” said Selectman Soren Siren. The other selectmen, Paul York, Darla Pickett and Skillings, agreed.

Local rules on marijuana social clubs and retails sales of recreational pot are included in Question 1, but a recount is underway.

Skowhegan will have the Planning Board write the ordinance and have a public hearing before a final vote by residents at the annual town meeting or as a referendum question in June. Skillings said he would like to see a version of the ordinance by the end of January.

Almand said that after the elections on Nov. 8, Skowhegan may not be able to limit where such establishments are located in town, but her understanding of the initiative was that the town could limit that number to zero retail stores and social clubs.

With a local controlled-substance facility ordinance already regulating methadone clinics and medical marijuana dispensaries, Skowhegan selectmen now want to see if residents will back a measure banning retail marijuana and marijuana social clubs.

A registered facility under the existing controlled-substance ordinance in Skowhegan was adopted in 2011 by voters at town meeting and updated to include methadone clinics last June. Such facilities can be located only on Route 201, Route 2 east of the downtown area and at the Northgate or Southgate industrial parks.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law and is legal only for medical use under state law. With the passage of Question 1 on Nov. 8, adults 21 and older are allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, grow their own plants and buy marijuana from licensed retail stores. The initiative also allows marijuana social clubs and places a 10 percent sales tax on marijuana. Marijuana use would be prohibited in public, with violations punishable by a $100 fine.

In the weeks leading up to the election, some Maine communities — including Westbrook, Portland, Gray, Gardiner, Oakland, Farmington and Saco — considered moratoriums or ordinances on retail marijuana establishments to allow officials time to develop zoning regulations or outright bans on those types of businesses.

The new law takes effect within 40 days of the election. Regulations for marijuana-related businesses are scheduled to be in place by Aug. 8, 2017.

Almand suggested that the town ask voters for a “safety net” to allow a six-month moratorium on retail establishments and social clubs if voters in June chose not to approve an outright ban. That would give town officials time to compose an ordinance that reflected that vote, she said.

Selectmen agreed.

Copy the Story Link