LEWISTON — Ordinances regulating adult use and medical marijuana businesses and zoning in the city were approved by the City Council on Tuesday.

The ordinances, developed over the last year, hit on all state-regulated operations including retail, cultivation, manufacturing and testing facilities.

According to David Hediger, director of Planning and Code Enforcement, all uses, whether adult or medical, will be subject to the same licensing fees and zoning standards.

Those fees were bumped up just prior to approval, he said, in response to councilors who wanted them to be in line with neighboring Auburn, which approved its own marijuana ordinances earlier this year.

The fees were set at $5,000 annually for a retail store, $2,500 for manufacturing and testing facilities, and a sliding scale between $1,000 and $5,000 for cultivation facilities based on size. Dispensaries will also have a $5,000 annual fee.

The council voted 6-0 Tuesday to approve the ordinance. Two marijuana business owners thanked city officials for the final product, stating that the ordinance is fair.

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Last year, the city grandfathered businesses that had a business license in hand prior to Dec. 13, 2018. The council has held multiple workshops on the issue since April, and Hediger said Tuesday that he believes the ordinance will work, “at least for a little while.”

According to the ordinance, districts in which the city permits industrial and light industrial uses — industrial, urban enterprise, mill, highway business and office service — are to be considered for marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, testing, nurseries and dispensaries.

Marijuana stores will be considered in districts that permit retail uses, including riverfront, community business, highway business, centreville, urban enterprise and mill.

Downtown residential or neighborhood conservation “B” districts, which allow retail uses, will not allow any marijuana stores, since the majority of uses in these districts are residential.

One sticking point relating to state rules has been a requirement that business owners keep adult use and medical businesses separate, with separate entrances. At least one business owner said the rule is costly to small businesses, potentially forcing them to choose one use over the other.


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