TOPSHAM — A medical marijuana caregiver has submitted plans to the town for growing up to 2,000-square-feet of marijuana along Route 201.
Ryan Holmes, the owner of Sundog Caregiving LLC and a registered caregiver with the state, needs a marijuana business license from the town. Next week, selectmen will hold a public hearing on the proposal before considering granting a license, which comes with a $2,000 price tag.
Town Manager Rich Roedner said selectmen could approve the license Thursday after the public hearing.
Holmes will still need to get a license from the state before he can begin growing marijuana in an outfitted garage at 248 Augusta Road, said Town Planner Rod Melanson. The building must be equipped with odor control and security measures. According to the application, no cannabis will be sold on-site and the facility will be monitored around the clock.
Melanson said this is the first marijuana business license application before the board of selectmen since the town adopted marijuana licensing rules at the town meeting in May.
The new rules require separate licenses for registered medical marijuana retail stores, marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana products manufacturing facilities and marijuana testing facilities. Selectmen must review the licenses every year make sure businesses continue to meet license standards.
Melanson said the town has received two other applications for marijuana business licenses. Highbrow has operated as a medical marijuana store in the Topsham Fair Mall since 2017 and is seeking a medical marijuana retail license. A cultivation facility on Route 196 is seeking a medical marijuana retail license and a marijuana cultivation facility license.
The town received a fourth marijuana business license application for another medical marijuana retail store in the Topsham Fair Mall area, but Melanson said the application was incomplete.
The selectmen meeting starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the town office.
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