PARIS — The Planning Board on Tuesday night approved of three medical marijuana caregivers using commercial space to grow their individual crops for their patients.

The property at 209 Park St. was previously an apple orchard, farming facility and day care center.

Headwaters LLC applicants Richard Jackson and Anthony Christian of Paris and Richard Cummings of Otisfield are individually registered as medical marijuana caregivers, according to their attorney, Jeffrey Wilson.

After a lengthy and sometimes contentious discussion, the Planning Board voted 4-1 to approve the application, contingent on the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Voting for the measure were Chairman Jim Hakala, Vice Chairwoman Krystal Rudman, Steve “Jack” Allen and Henry Raymond. Franca Ainsworth voted against.

The project includes developing the rear of the building into three separate, locked areas for medical marijuana cultivation, each with its own office space that allow the caregivers to make exchanges with their designated patients. Wilson said there would be three separate leases for each caregiver.

They plan to develop the front of the building into a food and coffee shop, along with space to hold medical seminars and speakers to educate their patients and the community.

Wilson said there are two state statutes that govern caregivers, one for individuals and one for dispensaries, which are nonprofit organizations.

He noted Code Enforcement Officer Fred Collins was concerned about the operation being considered a collective, which is “an association, cooperation, affiliation or group of primary caregivers who physically assist each other in the act of cultivation, processing or distribution or marijuana for medical use for the benefit of the members of the collective.”

Collectives are prohibited under state statute.

“They are not dispensing. They’re actually providing … their own prescription to their patients,” Wilson said. “This one is different because they are not doing this together. You’ve got three separate individuals doing their own separate thing. There is nothing that says that (this) is inappropriate.

“That leaves us with three motivated caregivers, who come here in their Sunday best, who are part of the community … who want to do this out in the open,” Wilson said. 

These are the type of caregivers we want in town, he added.

“The point is, this is a combined situation, no matter how much you say it isn’t,” Ainsworth said, adding she wanted to hold a public hearing and the town’s attorney to review the issue.

Collins said after the meeting that his recommendation was to deny the application on the grounds it was a collective, adding he wanted a letter from Department of Health and Human Services and the fire marshal giving state approval.

The 5,300-square-foot building is vacant. The caregivers signed an agreement to commit to a 12-month lease with Panda Property Management of Poland in May, which expires on Saturday, Aug. 27.

The caregivers will finance the project with their money and install a security system.

[email protected]