WILTON — The Board of Selectpersons voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a special meeting April 9 to publicly discuss their moratorium on cannabis licenses, and extend it to the annual town meeting.

The annual meeting is slated for June 17. The expiration date for the moratorium was originally set for April 14.

The moratorium, which went into effect October of last year, prohibits the issuing of licenses of cannabis operations for both medical use and adult use, and includes growth, cultivation, testing and retail.

Vice-Chair Mike Wells, who also serves as Chair of Wilton’s Cannabis Ordinance Committee, requested the moratorium to be extended to the annual town meeting, indicating the committee’s revised ordinances for cannabis licenses was incomplete.

He assured the board they would be ready for the town meeting.

Wells said the concerns that were being addressed by the committee during the moratorium were the number of operations in town, deficiencies in their application form and process, and the fees for application and renewal.

Wells shared that the committee has received help from local cannabis business owners in navigating Maine’s cannabis laws, which he called “a big learning curve as to how the cannabis program works in the state of Maine.”

John Black, owner of Earth Keeper Cannabis, expressed dissatisfaction with the moratorium and the undesired side effects it has had on existing operators.

“I’m being held up, held back from expanding,” Black said, stating that his current license allows him to expand with only a building permit, but he is unable to attain one because of the moratorium.

Black is not the only business that is being held back from expansion. In January, the Select Board elected not to move forward with a processing application that was submitted by The HoneyComb Farm in 2019.

Town Manager Maria Greeley stated two separate law firms had advised the town to not move forward with the application, adding it would be in direct violation of the moratorium.

During the months leading up to the moratorium going into effect, former Town Manager Perry Ellsworth verbally stated that businesses with existing applications would not be affected by the moratorium.

Former Sen. Tom Saviello, who also previously served on the Select Board, shared with the board at the meeting that he had spoken with Wilton police Chief Ethan Kyes and asked if there were any concerns from the existing cannabis operations that are licensed by the town.

“And the answer was, ‘we have minor things that are not related to the businesses’,” Saviello said.

“I know you’ve got other issues that are out there, of certain people growing illegal grows,” Saviello continued, “but the people we have here are doing a good job. So, what I would suggest is to amend the moratorium so that you can allow those businesses to exist that already have the permit in what they do allow to continue to do that.”

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