HOULTON, Maine — Town Councilors agreed to amend a zoning ordinance Monday evening to allow commercial greenhouses to be established in the airport development district.
The move will allow the facilities to be established around Houlton International Airport.
There were some questions and concerns raised by the public during the meeting.
Kevin Carmichael, a Houlton resident, said that he was not opposed to greenhouses in the area. He said that he lived in direct vicinity to the zone, however, and had a few concerns about possible odors.
“I am not completely opposed, but I would like to see it addressed,” he said.
Councilor Sue Tortello, who is also a member of the planning board, cleared things up for the crowd of people who attended the meeting.
Tortello said that only commercial greenhouses would be allowed in the zone under the new ordinance, and the facilities would not be used to grow marijuana or recreational marijuana products.
“We currently have three greenhouses in town,” she said, noting that they were in three different zones in the community. “The decision to allow greenhouses in the airport zone area makes sense to the planning board.”
She said that board members felt that the airport zone was the best area for such a facility, as the town already allows for agricultural production and product processing in the area.
Councilors passed the amendment, with Councilor William McCluskey abstaining.
In other business, the council authorized the submission of a sub-application to the Maine Emergency Management Agency for a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster mitigation grant for the replacement and upsizing of the Morningstar Road culvert over Moose Brook.
Nancy Ketch, the town’s community and economic development director, told councilors that the culvert was failing and needed to be replaced. She said that a previous grant application failed to garner funding.
Ketch said that she is working with the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians on the grant application.
“Maine Emergency Management Agency will be the applicant,” she explained “And FEMA will be the sub-applicant. There is only one other town that is applying, so it looks like we would get a larger portion of the funding.”
Tortello said that she liked the idea.
“This will be a real win if we can pull it off,” she told Ketch.
