Freeport’s Town Council boosted the number of licenses for cannabis growing facilities from four to six during a meeting Tuesday night.
The council backed the increase 6-0 after the town received five applications for the four cultivation licenses. The additional licenses will allow the two manufacturing license applicants, who plan to make cannabis products in Freeport, to use multiple growing facilities. The new changes will affect cultivation licensing only, as manufacturing licenses will remain capped at four.
The changes come as the Planning Board is set to review a request to change the cannabis zoning laws in May. The proposed amendment aims to allow medical growth for dispensaries and was submitted by applicant Hazy Hill Farms.
Hazy Hill Farms is based in Portland. The company owns a property on Noble Drive in Freeport and said in its application that it will grow cannabis on the property.
The state only allows three types of growing licenses: adult use, caregiver and medical dispensary growth.
Caregivers, a type of medical marijuana provider, are limited to growing six mature cannabis plants per patient and cannot cultivate more than 30 mature plants total. Dispensary medical growth is unlimited, according to Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy.
The applicant-based change in Freeport’s law would include medical dispensary growth in the cultivation licensing definition but would still restrict retail sales of cannabis in the town.
The request will be reviewed during a 6 p.m. Planning Board meeting on May 1 at Town Hall. Residents can attend in person or via Zoom.
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