WILTON — The Wilton Board of Selectpersons have extended its cannabis moratorium an additional 180 days, making the moratorium’s new expiration date Oct. 11. The board made the decision at a special Select Board meeting on Tuesday, April 9, after a public hearing was held to discuss the extension.

The moratorium went into effect in October of last year and was originally set to expire on Sunday, April 14.

Vice-Chair Mike Wells, who also serves as Chairmen for Wilton’s Cannabis Ordinance Committee, shared the status of the committee’s revisions to Wilton’s cannabis ordinances at the meeting.

He said the committee had reviewed the moratorium to ensure it is meeting all the objectives set forth by the Select Board in the committee’s revisions of the ordinances.

“Some people might feel that we’re going a little too far, but that’s an opinion,” Wells stated. “I think we’re staying within the boundaries and making good progress.”

Wells called the revisions an “uphill battle” with the committee investing much of its efforts in becoming more familiar with the state statutes and making sure its revisions align with the statutes set forth by the state.

“The biggest challenge is aligning our ordinance with the state statutes so we’re not in conflict with state documentation,” Wells stated.

Despite the extension, Wells shared with the Select Board the committee should have its revised ordinances ready for the annual town meeting, which is set for Monday, June 17.

A special public hearing for the town to review the ordinances before the annual town meeting will be set later. Wells stated the committee has one more meeting to finalize details before setting the public hearing date.

Wells thanked John Black of Earth Keeper Cannabis and Brian Patterson of The HoneyComb Farm for their assistance in navigating Maine’s cannabis laws.

“They’ve been invaluable in helping us get our heads wrapped around the state statute, how things work,” Wells stated.

At a previous meeting on Tuesday, April 5, former Sen. and Wilton Selectperson Tom Saviello shared that Maine may be adding 22 more pages to the current statute in the form of LD 40, “An Act to Amend the Cannabis Law”, which he believes will “pass the legislature with flying colors.”

Wells shared at the April 9 meeting the committee will contend with those additional pages when they come, but they must “work with what [it has] got currently.”

Issues with Wilton’s cannabis moratorium started to arise in January when The HoneyComb Farm’s application for processing cannabis in the town was denied by the Select Board, who cited the advice from two separate law firms that approval of the application would be in direct violation of the moratorium.

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

More issues came for other business owners like Black, who currently is unable to expand his business operations at Earth Keeper Cannabis because of the strict language of the moratorium.

“I’m being held up, held back from expanding,” Black said at the April 5 meeting. “Whether anybody read the moratorium when it went through, I have no idea, but to prevent me from expanding, which requires only a building permit because my license allows me to expand to whatever I want, I mean, it’s just discrimination against me.”

Isis Whalen of Cannatopia called the moratorium “frustrating”, sharing with The Franklin Journal at the meeting on April 9 that the moratorium had prevented her from putting a dry storage shed on her property.

At the previous meeting, Saviello defended the current business owners in the town, stating the owners “are doing a good job”.

“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,” Saviello suggested.

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