SANFORD — The City Council voted 5 to 2 to institute a prohibition on all types of retail marijuana on Tuesday, with councilors Robert Stackpole and Joseph Hanslip dissenting,

After the vote, Stackpole, resigned as chairman of the city’s marijuana task force after he and Mayor Tom Cote disagreed about its mission. 

Stackpole was also an advocate of including a sunset clause in the prohibition ordinance, as proposed by councilor Hanslip. 

The sunset provision would have seen the expiration of the prohibition ordinance 180 days after the Maine Marijuana Legalization Act, as voted by the Legislature, goes into effect.

Hanslip said a sunset provision would allow flexibility until the new law is complete, but he was unable to persuade his colleagues that it would be beneficial and in the end, only he and Stackpole voted for it.

The prohibition, as voted by the council, will be in effect until it is repealed or amended. 

Cote, the mayor, said one of the reasons the prohibition ordinance materialized was to slow down or eliminate real estate speculation.

“If the council wants to repeal it in a year, we’ll have that conversation,” Cote said.

Voters across Maine approved the Marijuana Legalization Act in November, but only the provisions that allow personal possession and use are in effect. Portions of the law that will speak to retail establishments, taxation and the like are being examined by a special committee of the Legislature. Rulemaking is expected to be complete by February 2018.

Stackpole said the prohibition ordinance came to the marijuana task force he chairs during a meeting he didn’t attend due to illness. 

“I believe this is a left-landed attempt to permanently ban the sale of recreational marijuana in its different forms,” Stackpole said, in part.

The task force is a 13-member group made up of municipal officials, representatives of the marijuana industry and citizens. It first convened in May to begin to prepare Sanford for when the  state law that passed in November becomes fully implemented.

Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy said a sunset provision would automatically remove protection set forth in the prohibition ordinance.

Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio said having no sunset law might mean Sanford would be behind other communities when it came to industries like marijuana testing facilities because plans would have to be in place for those entities early on.

Councilor Lucas Lanigan pointed out that prohibition could be lifted “next month,” if the council so chooses.

Herlihy said Sanford is considered a leader in how it dealt with regulating medical marijuana and that prohibition allows the city to be thoughtful about the approach to retail marijuana.

Cote said Sanford has to consider the impact of recreational marijuana, pointing to crime and an increase in the transient population.

“Imagine the troubles we have now, with more homeless, more transients, more panhandlers,” said Cote. “This social element is part of the deal. What value do you put on that? I don’t know if this is the Holy Grail that fixes everything for us.”

“I made a commitment we’ll see this again,” he said of the ordinance.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].