HOULTON, Maine — Interim Town Manager Cathy O’Leary confirmed Monday evening that petitioners had collected enough signatures on two petitions relating to marijuana ordinances.
One petition seeks to repeal the Town Council’s July 24 vote which created a recreational marijuana ordinance to regulate where commercial growers of marijuana plants can set up shop in the community.
The second petition is a citizens’ initiative that looks to ban the licensing of retail marijuana establishments and social clubs, and the growing of recreational marijuana within town limits. This initiative would be decided by a referendum vote in November.
O’Leary said she was uncertain of the legality of the second petition.
“We will meet with the town attorney to discuss the next steps and it will be on the agenda for the next meeting,” she said.
That council meeting is slated to start at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, when the board will hold public hearings on both petitions before taking any action on the two items. Members of the public will be able to comment during that meeting.
Organizers of the petitions previously stated that they felt the matter should be put to a town-wide referendum.
Both petitions required at least 372 signatures of registered voters in Houlton to be complete. The petition to repeal the current ordinance had 489 signatures, while the petition to create a new ordinance banning retail marijuana in Houlton had 480 signatures.
