FARMINGTON — The developer of a proposed medical marijuana dispensary on Tuesday said this week’s decision by the Farmington Planning Board to table its review of the project pending a July 12 public hearing was disappointing.

But Luke Sirois of Farmington said it will not hold up his application to the state.

He said he will get his paperwork into the Maine Department of Health and Human Services by the June 25 deadline and the already-approved site on Route 2 in East Wilton will be on the application.

His first choice is to lease the former Rite-Aid pharmacy at 131 Wilton Road in Farmington because of its parking, lighting, building layout and central location, he said.

However, that option is now temporarily shelved because of the conflict with the hearing date and application deadline.

“We will meet the requirements to have a dispensary for the western Maine zone with the Wilton location, but we will still try to get approval from Farmington. If the state likes our application, it will award us this zone and we will be able to move it to another location,” Sirois said Tuesday.

The state will announce the selected sites on July 9. Under the law approved by voters last November, dispensaries can be established within the state’s eight public health zones of the state. The western Maine region includes Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties.

Sirois said he is also proposing a dispensary in Farmingdale.

The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on July 12 in the Farmington Municipal Building.

The vote to table the discussion Monday passed 4 to 1, with Chairman L. Herbert “Bussie” York, Clayton King, Bill Marceau and Donna Tracy in favor and Ray Stillman opposed.

“I thought we could move it forward and I had come prepared to hear what folks had to say and vote on the application that night,” Stillman said on Tuesday. “As best as I could see, it was as complete as the law allows.”

“It is a legitimate business and our town needs business,” he said.

Sirois told the Planning Board he had signatures of 200 Farmington business people who support the venture.

“Ninety percent of the people I spoke to support it. The public is on our side,” he said.

King made the motion to hold a hearing over Sirois’ urging that the board expedite the site review process.

“I was even more convinced of the need for a hearing when I heard from people who didn’t think it was a good fit for Farmington,” King said.

About 10 residents and abutters attended Monday’s board meeting.

Questions were posed about security, staffing, state requirements, the number of customers per day and traffic.

Under the law, patients with chronic or debilitating conditions whose physicians recommend marijuana for pain relief can enroll in the state program. They would receive an identification card that would allow them to purchase medical cannabis from a single, state-certified dispensary for a $100 yearly fee. That would allow them to purchase 2.5 ounces every two weeks.

Sirois on Tuesday said the cost-per-ounce is still being determined and will be based on how much work is involved and the overhead.

The state requires an annual fee of $15,000 and Sirois has already put about $12,000 into the venture with the help of some outside investors, he said.

Also working on the project are Lisa Sirois and Chad Crandall from Farmington.

“Our motto is to provide for the patients and support the law,” said Crandall, who works with people with disabilities. “We want to provide complete care.”

York asked how the marijuana would be tracked to prevent fraud or illegal reselling of the product.

Sirois and Crandall said all transactions would be recorded electronically with the records reviewed by the state. There would also be unannounced state inspections of the facility.

The level of security required would be tight.

Employees would be licensed, fingerprinted, undergo criminal record checks and must submit to random substance abuse testing. The law also requires administrative controls to discourage unlawful activity and the operation would be subject to inspection by the state without notice.

There would be surveillance cameras, locked doors to the growing area and dispensary, and a security guard on duty.

Sirois said if a secondary growing location was needed, it could be set up on a 90-acre parcel of land he owns off Seamon Road in Farmington. It complies with the requirement that it be at least 1,500 feet from a school. Mt.. Blue High School is on that road.

The project would have an on-site, climate-controlled greenhouse; a commercial kitchen where products can be packaged and foods and other substances containing marijuana prepared; a garden center that would sell equipment for patients to grow up to six plants; and office space for health professionals.