Topsham residents vote at town meeting Wednesday. (Darcie Moore / The Times Record)
TOPSHAM — Topsham voters approved a plan for licensing and regulating medical marijuana businesses during Wednesday’s town meeting.
The new rules require separate licenses for registered medical marijuana retail stores, marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana products manufacturing facilities and marijuana testing facilities. Selectmen will review the licenses every year make sure businesses continue to meet license standards.
The town did not opt to allow recreational marijuana sales in town. In non-binding referendums last November, 60 percent of voters showed support for medical marijuana retail. A smaller majority supported commercial growing, but most were opposed to recreational marijuana.
Voters also approved ordinance changes that limit marijuana businesses to the commercial zones at the Topsham Fair Mall and the Route 196 corridor. Marijuana businesses wouldn’t be allowed within 1,000 feet of schools.
The discussion on the proposed marijuana business regulations and licensing program drew many questions from the public, but little debate, during Wednesday’s Town Meeting.
“I am mad about the marijuana mental illness and violence that it is bringing not just to this state or town, but all over the country,” said Dorothy Gardner, a school board member for School Administrative District 75. “It’s one thing if a doctor prescribes it for a medical purpose, but we’re going to be accountable if it keeps on the way it is at the present time.”
Selectman Bill Thompson said because marijuana is legal in the state, not allowing legal marijuana businesses in town won’t prevent the possession or consumption of marijuana in Topsham. Allowing retailers to come and sell their medical marijuana product provides revenue for the town, he said.
“I know this is a controversial subject but again, a no vote really takes away the opportunity for us to earn some kind of revenue,” Thompson said.
It would also trigger additional personal property tax revenue, he said. The revenue that would come from licensing and sales tax has yet to be determined.
Raija Suomela, citing the involved process involved in the local review of aquaculture projects taking place, asked selectmen what the costs will be for the licensing of marijuana businesses.
“Are we going to be sued for not having a fair process if someone decides theirs didn’t get accepted when someone else’s did?” she said.
Topsham selectmen chair David Douglass, center, speaks during town meeting Wednesday. (Darcie Moore / The Times Record)
Selectman Chairman David Douglass said the concern Suomela raised has been one of his greatest concerns.
“Particularly when we sat in public meetings bringing this forward and individuals sat and told us how they would loophole the current regulations we have in front of us,” he said. “Yeah, I think this is a breaking point, deciding what kind of road you want to go down.”
“I love the idea of revenue for our town,” Suomela added. “But I almost think that the cost of processing permits is significantly larger than any amount of money that we’d get from collecting a fee.”
The town has also capped the number of medical marijuana stores allowed in town at two.
The town already has one medical marijuana store, Highbrow, operating at the Topsham Fair Mall since September 2017. The business will need to apply for a business license once the new rules are in place, but would get priority consideration — essentially grandfathering it in. A cultivation facility along Route 196 will also have to undergo review to make sure they are meeting license standards.
Cultivation operations are allowed in four tiers based on the size of the operation, ranging up to 20,000 square feet of plant canopy. Two licenses are allowed for each tier. The town will only issue up to six licenses for marijuana product manufacturing facilities, and up to 10 licenses for marijuana testing facilities.
Town Planner Rod Melanson said Thursday the businesses also have to have a state license to operate. The local licenses largely mirror state license requirements.
“Any (marijuana) cultivation is going to be indoors,” Melanson said.
The town is also requiring odor control measures for marijuana businesses, as well as security measures that could include video surveillance and a contract with a security agency for an alarm system.
“If we get a complaint you can smell it three properties away, then it’s not meeting the standard, period,” Melanson said.
Melanson said Thursday selectmen will discuss enacting the adopted licensing at its June 6 meeting. The board is also expected to discuss licensing fees at that meeting.
Voters also adopted an ordinance amendment Wednesday requiring all medical marijuana caregivers operating within Topsham to register with the town. This involves people providing care for a qualifying medical marijuana patient who is registered by the state.
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