Old Orchard Beach leaders are considering lifting the cap on the number of retail marijuana businesses, taking the step months after a contentious referendum set strict limits on who could qualify for the town’s sole cannabis shop license and prompted a lawsuit against the town.

Discussions about whether to allow marijuana businesses at all – as well as where to allow them and how to choose them – have dragged on since before 2020, when residents voted to allow adult-use stores in Old Orchard Beach.

Last June, voters decided to limit any potential cannabis store to 1,000 square feet of retail space. In September, the town received three applications for the license. The town had received previous applications and opened them in March, but they were scrapped after one applicant claimed the town changed the rules to favor his competitor and filed a lawsuit to stop the process until after the June vote.

The licensing process has been mired in uncertainty since then.

In the latest application process, Theory Wellness, was chosen. But the company is still working to secure final approval to open a store on Ocean Park Road. As that moves forward, town councilors say they’re open to considering removing the cap and eliminating the required 1,000-foot buffer between marijuana businesses and certain facilities such as schools, churches and amusement parks.

Any changes to the ordinance will not impact the current licensing process for Theory Wellness and would only apply to future applicants, said Shawn O’Neill, the Town Council chairman.

“We’re not going to muddy the waters anymore,” he said.

Town councilors held a preliminary discussion about the changes last week, a move that came as a surprise to Tom Mourmouras, president of Beach Boys Cannabis Co. and Exit 710, LLC.

“We were blindsided by it. It’s extremely frustrating,” he said. “Going from having one of the most restrictive ordinances to having unlimited stores and basically a marijuana mile off the turnpike just doesn’t sit right.”

Mourmouras, who has largely criticized the town for its process, ushered through the June referendum and applied for the license in March and again in September.

During a workshop that became tense at times, councilors made it clear they are only just beginning to consider changes and pushed back on assertions from Mourmouras that the process would be unfair to businesses that already have applied for a license. Councilors also rebuffed accusations that the ordinance change is being considered to benefit Old Orchard Provisions, the company suing the town over the referendum.

Old Orchard Provisions’ latest application was deemed incomplete and disqualified last fall.

O’Neill said he and Councilor Michael Tousignant have been trying for three years to get enough support to allow more than one store. Councilor Kenneth Blow said he would support lifting the cap if the town also removes the buffer.

“We have a new council. This council is open-minded,” O’Neill said. Councilor Connor Rague was elected in November, replacing Larry Mead.

O’Neill anticipates that the council will discuss any changes during a series of meetings with public input.

Mourmouras said any major changes like the ones the council is considering should be sent to voters to decide.

FIRST LICENSE STILL PENDING

While councilors consider whether to explore ordinance changes, the town is still in the process of reviewing plans for its first marijuana store. But it’s unclear if a potential issue with the lease on the building where it would open will derail that approval.

Theory Wellness, which scored the highest under the town’s merit criteria for marijuana businesses, already operates marijuana dispensaries in Portland, South Portland, Kittery, Waterville and Bangor, as well as in other states.

The company has 90 days from the time it was selected to begin the planning board process for conditional use approval. That application must be submitted by mid-February, said town planner Jeffrey Hinderliter. Once it is submitted, the company has nine months to complete the planning process.

If it does not submit an application by the February deadline, “their time runs out” and the town goes back to the first phase of the application process to select another applicant, Hinderliter said.

“Theory Wellness is pleased to have been selected to move forward with the licensing process in Old Orchard and looks forward to submitting our conditional use application to the planning board in the coming weeks,” Brandon Pollock, CEO and co-founder of Theory Wellness, said in an email.

But Mourmouras does not believe Theory Wellness will receive approval to open a store because he says it does not hold the lease for 17 Ocean Park Road, the building where both Theory Wellness and Exit 710 applied to open a store.

Mourmouras said his company holds the lease for that property through 2025 and has prepaid rent through March of this year, but that the landlord gave a contingency lease to Theory Wellness. The terms of that lease have not been made public, but a contingency lease generally allows parties out of a lease if certain approvals are not secured.

Mourmouras anticipates the issue will involve another lawsuit, but said it was premature to discuss it in more detail.

“We are firmly entrenched in that lease,” he said.

Pollock did not respond to questions about the lease or the possible removal of the cap on the licenses in Old Orchard Beach.

TOWN FACES LAWSUIT

The lawsuit filed against the town by Old Orchard Provisions, the applicant that was disqualified, is pending in federal court and slated to go to trial in late summer. The lawsuit claims the town’s ordinance violates the dormant Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and amounts to illegal spot zoning under Maine law.

Last week, a federal judge issued an order allowing Mourmouras and Old Orchard Beach resident Priscilla Rowell to intervene in the case and defend the ordinance approved by voters.

Old Orchard Provisions sued the town in July over the size restriction approved by voters, alleging the changes unfairly benefited Exit 710, whose application included plans for an 800-square-foot building while theirs called for a 3,800-square-foot space, which they argued would only include 1,000 square feet of business use.

Hannah King, who is representing Old Orchard Provisions, did not respond to an email seeking an interview Monday.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Federal health officials recommend U.S. ease marijuana restrictions

Next »

Warmer, wetter winters are hurting Maine businesses that count on snow and ice