HOULTON, Maine — How should potential recreational marijuana businesses be regulated in the town? That is the question members of the Houlton Town Council discussed during Monday night’s meeting.
On Feb. 21, council members unanimously approved an ordinance aimed at welcoming potential marijuana businesses to the Shiretown.
Those guidelines, however, are still in the process of being tweaked and at Monday night’s meeting, the council spent more than an hour in a workshop session debating definitions and the logistics of implementing its new ordinance.
“We passed the ordinance with the caveat that we knew it was not perfect in any way,” explained councilor Jane Torres.
Representatives from the town’s planning board, ordinance review committee and Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca joined the council for the workshop.
Houlton Town Manager Butch Asselin said the marijuana ordinance would likely be an ongoing issue for the next few weeks as the group tries to come to an agreement on a number of topics. For example, the ordinance that was approved on Feb. 21 did not state how many registered commercial or retail marijuana establishments or facilities would be allowed in the town, nor did it state what type of fees these licenses would come with.
“We definitely need to include definitions for words that are of importance in our ordinance so there is absolutely no confusion what we mean,” said Priscilla Monroe, a member of the town’s planning board.
The council’s decision to be pro-marijuana is a stark contrast to what other towns in Aroostook County are doing. Many communities are putting moratoriums in place to prevent retail marijuana establishments from opening in their towns.
The move is also in contrast to voters’ wishes. At the polls last November, Houlton residents voted 935 in favor of recreational marijuana, while 1,762 were opposed to legalizing it. But so far only a couple members of the public have come forward and expressed any concerns to the council during recent meetings.
The state has also put the brakes on all such businesses until February 2018 while it develops its own set of rules. Houlton councilors, however, have expressed a desire to make the town appear business-friendly to any investors considering a pot-related shop in Houlton.
Houlton has been hashing the issue over since November when a citizen-led effort made recreational marijuana legal in Maine. Locally, the ordinance governing its use would only allow businesses on the outskirts of town at Houlton’s industrial park, which is near the Houlton International Airport.
It also prohibits any retail establishments from operating drive-up windows for the sale of marijuana; prohibits the use of any images of marijuana or drug paraphernalia on signs for the business; and requires multiple security measures at these businesses such as door locks with alarms and video surveillance equipment.
The council opted to create a subcommittee to further review the ordinance. That group, which will be comprised of councilors Jane Torres and Bill McCluskey; planning board members Sue Tortello and Kip Bickford; ordinance review members Donna Barnard and Monroe; Nancy Ketch, economic and community development director; along with Asselin, Chief DeLuca and Code Enforcement Officer Kevin Tingley.
The subcommittee will meet Wednesday, April 5 at 5 p.m. in the town council chambers to further review the document.
