FORT KENT, Maine – Fort Kent Town Council will hold a public hearing on three proposed ordinances pertaining to caregiver retail marijuana businesses, electric signs, and commercial and residential zoning on Sept. 23.
A caregiver retail marijuana store is similar to retail stores in that it has a fixed location sign, regular business hours, and public accessibility. These stores are owned by registered caregivers, who sell cannabis to qualifying patients.
The town will charge businesses $1,000 for their initial license application, and then $500 per year for renewal of their license.
Fees and fines collected as part of the caregiver ordinance will be split into four parts. One quarter will go to an account to help deal with any legal costs or issues pertaining to the ordinance, another will go to the police department for drug enforcement purposes. A quarter will go to the code enforcement office to help manage this ordinance, and the remaining quarter will go to First Mile Recovery.
The town will also only issue licenses for caregiver stores that are at least 1,000 feet away from the property lines of a pre-existing private or public school, state licensed daycare, public athletic field, park, playground or recreational facility. All existing facilities are exempt from this rule.
Under this ordinance, only four licenses will be allowed at a time.
Code Enforcement Officer Cole Pelletier said the contents of the ordinance were taken from about four other municipalities with similar ordinances. The primary difference is that, through this ordinance, Pelletier said it would be like any other business where they go through the planning board and then get license approval through the council. He said other communities often require the council to handle the license approval for marijuana businesses.
The proposed sign ordinance defines and limits the uses of electronic signs in town. These signs would not be able to blink, flash, rotate or scroll. Any transition of images on an electronic sign must take at least five seconds. These signs also need to be either shut off or dimmed below 500 nits after 8 pm.
It also adds standards for rural farm districts, allowing for certain signs in these areas, such as educational, religious, or non-residential uses, to be up to sixteen square feet. It also limits signs in residential areas to no larger than four square feet.
And the zoning changes would allow for ground level residential use in any commercial district – provided that the entire front-facing portion of the building is a commercial space. This will allow the town to remain consistent with its comprehensive plan.
The public hearing is set to take place during the town council’s next regular meeting on Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. in the town office. Town Manager Suzie Paradis said that the town will hold a special town meeting on these items after the hearing.
