Saco City Council has enacted a short-term moratorium on new marijuana businesses while it decides whether to opt in to retail sales and if so, where they should be located. AP File Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

SACO — The City Council enacted an emergency, 61-day moratorium on all new marijuana businesses in Saco after the city was approached for a conditional use permit to open a retail establishment downtown at 247 Main St. The moratorium does not impact existing permitted marijuana operations.

The applicant, who was not identified, had indicated to city staff that the City Council, by enacting a new zoning ordinance in January it had, in fact, “opted-in,” to retail sales, said city attorney Tim Murphy. He told the City Council he’d consulted with attorney Jim Katsiaficas, who told him marijuana had not been discussed by the Planning Board and others prior to the zoning update.

“This is something you need to start thinking about,” said Murphy; he said the moratorium would give the council time do that.

The emergency moratorium the council approved June 28 notes that a one-year ordinance prohibiting retail sales, cultivation facilities and other aspects of the marijuana industry enacted by the City Council in 2017 had expired; it was not renewed in 2018.

“This has been on the back burner for years, since the voters legalized it,” said Councilor Joseph Gunn, regarding whether and where retail sales might be allowed in the city. “I don’t want to see the can on this kicked perpetually down the road.”

Murphy said the 61-day moratorium could be renewed just once, for an additional 61 days.

Advertisement

He described the action as a ‘’hold your horses, we don’t know where we are” measure.

As to the notion that by approving the city-wide zoning ordinance in January the city had opted in, Murphy told the council he didn’t believe that was the case.

While “some may argue it was a defacto opt in,” Murphy said, “the vote has to be knowing and intentional.”

The moratorium also notes the expiration of the 2017 ordinance, “leaving new uses unregulated at the local level, which is detrimental to the city.”

The moratorium goes on to say, “Except for those businesses or operations in existence and operating as of June 28, 2021, no new marijuana use business, operation or entity shall be allowed or authorized in any zone, location or property within the City of Saco. The City Council expressly intends that this moratorium apply to any and all pending applications, licenses and permits filed within the city anytime between January 11, 2021 and this date.”

Councilor Nathan Johnston proposed holding a joint meeting with the Planning Board on the matter.

Councilor Jodi MacPhail said once the City Council has discussed the matter and indicated what it believes should happen, she’d like the matter to go to the voters in a referendum. She said it might not meet deadlines for inclusion on the November ballot, but could be decided in June 2022.

Comments are not available on this story.

filed under: