WILTON — The Wilton Board of Selectpersons opted not to make a motion regarding a processing application that was submitted by the HoneyComb Farm, located at 844 US Route 2. The application was submitted to the Planning Board in 2019 and first appeared before the Select Board in December.

The application was tabled in a vote of three to two at the meeting, which occurred on Tuesday, Dec. 19, after a lengthy discussion over the legality of approving the permit. Vice-Chair Mike Wells questioned at that meeting if the application fell outside the legal confines of Wilton’s active moratorium on cannabis licenses.

Town Manager Maria Greeley reached out to the legal firm Jensen Baird as well as Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer, & Nelson, a New England-based law firm that originally drafted the cannabis moratorium with former town manager Perry Ellsworth.

According to Chairperson Tiffany Maiuri, both firms advised against allowing the application to move forward as it is in direct violation of the moratorium.

“I was under the impression that we were [able to approve the application],” Maiuri stated to the Select Board. “There was some comments that made me believe that we could issue the permit.”

Maiuri elaborated that during the discussion of the moratorium, a stipulation to allow pending applications not be affected by the moratorium once it went into effect was suggested. During the discussion, Ellsworth stated there were three businesses that had pending applications, though he did not specify who those businesses were.

The moratorium, which prohibits any new applications for adult use and medical cannabis establishments for a period of 180 days, was enacted on Tuesday, Oct. 17, after a special town meeting.

Wells, who is also a part of the cannabis ordinance committee, asked if the moratorium could be ended early if the committee was able to submit the redrafted ordinances and hold a special town meeting before the deadline of the moratorium, which is slated to expire on Sunday, April 14.

Greeley cited a passage from her email exchange with a lawyer from Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer, & Nelson, stating, “Under the moratorium law, the Select Board has the authority to extend that for an additional 180 days after notice and hearing. The town could also decide to amend the moratorium to limit its applicability or let it expire without an extension.”

Wells asked if Greeley could research if it is possible to end the moratorium sooner than anticipated, to which Greeley said she would look into the matter.

Maiuri asked the Select Board if they were interested in disputing the legal advice and making a motion to allow the permit to move forward, which the Select Board opted not to do.

At the pervious meeting, the owner of HoneyComb Farm stated to the Select Board he wished to move his current processing facility into Wilton to allow for processing cannabis on site. The owner could not be reached for comment.

“I believe that the intent of the moratorium was to allow the three businesses to move forward,” Greeley commented. “I do also believe that just because something was addressed at a town meeting, and because of the way that the moratorium was written, we can’t amend it on the floor.”

“I think we might all be in agreement that it was a little more strict than we wanted it to be,” Wells added. “It’s water over the dam right now. The best we can do is rewrite the current ordinance and then move on with possibly rescinding it early if that’s even an option.”

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