JAY — The Select Board on Monday set distances that marijuana cultivation and manufacturing operations must be from property lines and schools.
Those businesses must be 200 feet from property lines and 1,000 feet from schools.
The Ordinance to Allow and Regulate Adult Use Marijuana Cultivation Facilities and Adult Use Marijuana Products Manufacturing Facilities will go before voters on Nov. 2. It was drafted by a town committee and pertains to cultivation and manufacturing facilities, not retail stores, which are not allowed.
If approved, the ordinance would allow four tiers of marijuana cultivation and a nursery level. The tiers range from 0 to 500 square feet of plant canopy and mature flowering plants from 7,001 to 20,000 square feet of plant canopy, with the option to increase over time through renewals of the state license, but not to exceed 30,000 square feet, according to comments the town’s attorney made on the draft document.
A nursery cultivation facility would contain up to 1,000 square feet of plant canopy, but only for the propagation of those mature plants for the production of seeds.
The list of fees will be separate from the ordinance so the document would not have to be changed each time there is a fee change, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said. The fees can be reviewed annually, she said.
The committee also wanted the Planning Board and Code Enforcement Officer Ronda Palmer to be in charge of permitting.
The committee decided to go with the town of Fairfield’s fees, with some changes, Palmer said.
An annual permit fee for a manufacturing facility, which includes a high hazard because of different processes that could be used, would be $3,000. Annual cultivation facility fees proposed are Tier 1, $1,500; Tier 2, 2,500; Tier 3, $3,500; Tier 4, $4,500; and a nursery, $350. The fees could go into a reserve account to offset the town and Planning Board costs, LaFreniere said.
Inside and outside cultivation facilities or a combination of both are allowed under the ordinance.
The application fee would be $200.
The committee also wanted no limits on the number of permits for the facilities covered under the ordinance, Palmer said.
An applicant would still need to go through a state licensing process.
Voters rejected having any adult use or medical marijuana-related businesses, including retail stores in town, by a 204-200 vote in April 2019. Resident Mark Mancini asked the board in July to hold a revote limiting the question to adult use cultivation and product manufacturing.
A public hearing on the proposed ordinance and three other warrant articles will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at a Spruce Mountain school.
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