NORWAY — The Planning Board held a pre-site plan review application meeting for two Massachusetts men looking to move to Maine and start a medical marijuana grow facility on East Street.
Chris Getchell and Mike Gonzalez of Boston said that they were seeking to “start up our next venture” and decided to team up and get into the medical marijuana field.
Gonzalez, who does coding and software development for small-town companies, said that he was planning to move to Maine with Getchell if their proposal for a grow facility is approved.
Getchell and Gonzalez rented a 1,500-square-foot building on 1 East St. to use as a grow facility. Each of them will have a separate room where they will be allowed to care for up to five patients and grow up to six plants per patient, for a total of 30 plants.
Getchell said that he and Gonzalez will each have their own licenses, meaning they will be able to grow up to 30 plants in their respective rooms, independently of one another.
“We’re only using the space to grow, so there will be no traffic in and out of the building,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll have 24-hour monitoring on the building and odor-control methods in place.”
Chairman Dennis Gray pointed out that the property they rented was across the street from a playground that is labeled a “drug-free safe zone.”
“We don’t know at this point where such a designation would preclude a medical marijuana grow facility on East Street or not,” Gray said.
Matt Dubois, an attorney representing Gonzalez and Getchell, said that it should fall “down to the individual town whether or not you want to create any ordinances or restrictions.”
“To my understanding, this is a legal activity, but I’m still not sure it would be allowed near the playground or not,” Gray replied. “We will be looking into that.”
Dubois said that his clients were “serious about compliance” and wanted to “make sure they abide by the law.”
Gray gave Getchell and Gonzalez a list of items required before the Planning Board could approve their site plan application.
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