SURRY — Voters at the annual Town Meeting in April will be asked whether to approve a new ordinance to deal with cannabis establishments in Surry.
But first, the second of two public hearings on the proposed ordinance was scheduled for Wednesday, March 9, at 6 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
“When Surry voted to accept cannabis establishments, we immediately declared a moratorium until such time as we could create an ordinance to guide prospective applicants, delineate where businesses could be located in town, determine fees for initial permits and annual payments, and reassure residents of the regulations to ensure public safety,” said Betsy Armstrong, who is chairwoman of the Surry Select Board.
That vote to accept marijuana business in Surry was in the Nov. 11, 2020, referendum.
The vote was 572-504 to allow “the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana products subject to state regulation, taxation and town ordinances.”
Armstrong said once the proposed marijuana ordinance is passed, the town will lift the moratorium.
“Then we wait to see if anyone is prepared to follow the requirements of the ordinance,” she said.
There was a bit of discussion and a couple questions at a March 2 public hearing on the ordinance.
One Planning Board member, Tom Minogue, spoke against the idea of having a marijuana business in the town.
“Are we leading the path to another opioid problem?” Minogue asked. “I really don’t think we need to have a legal shop. They can grow marijuana in their homes. They can go to Bangor. They can go to Ellsworth. I don’t really want to see a marijuana shop in the town of Surry.”
The proposed ordinance sets a robust fee and fine schedule, for which Select Board member Eric Treworgy commended the Planning Board.
“The initial challenge we had was whether there was any benefit to the town — the state reneged on any kind of revenue tax/sharing for it,” Treworgy said. “This model that you’ve set up here is quite significant.”
Establishing a marijuana manufacturing facility or cultivation business in the town of Surry would require both a $10,000 initial fee and an annual $10,000 fee, according to Surry’s Marijuana Establishment Schedule of Fees and Fines.
Violations such as allowing on-site consumption is a $500 fine per violation.
Growing marijuana in the stream protection or resource protection district is a fine of $500 per day.
Valerie Moon, Planning Board chairwoman, who presented the proposed ordinance, noted that any home-based medical marijuana caregivers could operate in Surry without any fees from the town.
Peter Brown, who owns The Surry General Store as well as rental properties, brought up the issue that marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government.
Brown asked about a possible issue should he rent to a tenant who is in the marijuana business.
“What happens if the feds come in and he’s growing marijuana — he’s doing something illegal?” Brown asked. “I don’t know if this whole thing has been thought out very well. What happens to my property?”
Moon deferred Brown’s question to Patrick Kane, a Planning Board member and chief deputy of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.
The federal government has the authority “to come in and enforce federal statute,” Kane said. “It has happened out West. The states and the federal government are fighting that out.”
Select Board member Treworgy told Brown, “I would put the onus on the person leasing from me.”
“That all sounds good, but in the end when they come and put a lien on the property, what do you do?” Brown countered.
Surry will hold its annual Town Meeting Monday, April 25. Polls will be open Friday, April 22.
Maine voters in a 2016 statewide referendum approved the legalization of retail marijuana, including stores and growing facilities.
Be the first to comment