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01/08/2024 03:12 PMThe Board of Selectmen (BOS) has once again voted to extend a moratorium on cannabis sales and cultivation.
At its meeting on Dec. 18, the BOS extended the moratorium to June. Despite that extension, the board has signaled it will focus on drafting an ordinance that will permit all legal forms of cannabis commerce.
According to First Selectman Matt Hoey, the BOS is developing a proposal that will permit sales and cultivation, along with all of the other permissible commercial provisions related to cannabis, under the auspices of the state’s cannabis legalization law.
“The next steps are that we are drafting parameters for the ordinance and Planning and Zoning, that will clearly outline an option for allowing legalization of retail, commercial, et cetera-all of the forms of commerce that are allowed under the legislative act,” said Hoey.
Hoey said a major factor in the board’s current focus is previous polling that indicated a majority of Guilford residents are not opposed to legal cannabis commerce within certain limits. According to Hoey, the matter will not be put to a vote or referendum; the board will, however, conduct workshops in an effort to include resident concerns.
“I don’t think it’s going to go to the voters, but what we are going to do is to promote workshops,” Hoey said. “This is not going to wind up being a ballot initiative.”
Hoey said that previous workshops led to the realization that residents wanted a defined proposal of what any ordinance would ultimately permit.
“One of the concerns that was expressed to us at previous workshops, that only 30 to 40 people showed up at, was that they didn’t have a clear idea of what we were going to allow and not allow,” said Hoey. “We are going to put a document together that the Board of Selectmen can agree on, which talks about how many locations, where, which will be, most likely, commercial and industrial zones only.”
Hoey stressed that any cannabis-related businesses that come to town will be restricted from residential areas and only allowed in commercial and industrial areas.
“We’re talking about commercial and industrial areas, and we’ve also been talking about limiting it to one or two of each type of facility, particularly in the retail sales,” Hoey said. “We appreciate the community’s patience as we work through these decisions.”
According to Hoey, the proposal being created now would essentially follow the same guidelines that liquor sales operate under.
“It can’t be within 500 feet of a school, church, or daycare facility. We also are looking to ensure that the greater downtown area is excluded from any of those activities,” Hoey said. “These are all aspects that we think the community wants to see if we were to authorize the various forms of commerce,” Hoey said.
While the BOS is working on a draft proposal, Hoey said that it does not indicate that the board is advocating for an ordinance in any particular direction, stating the board will eventually present its proposal as a framework for informing residents of what any ultimate permission could entail.
“I’m not sure we’re leaning in any direction,” Hoey said. “I think we owe it to the residents to define what it would look like if we were to allow it.”
Referring to digital polls conducted by the town during the last several years, Hoey added, “The state of Connecticut has made cannabis legal, and the surveys we conducted and the polling we did suggest the community supports the sale and or cultivation and the allowance for those forms of business to exist here in town. About 64% of residents favor the allowance of retail sales and other establishments.”
Some of the provisions of the state legalization include permitting municipalities to prohibit cannabis establishments from opening within their jurisdiction, allowing for local referendums on whether or not to permit the sale of marijuana for adult use, which requires 10% of a municipality’s voters to sign a petition to qualify as a ballot initiative.
Protections to prevent underage use are part of Connecticut’s legislation, as well as a measure that “redresses harms caused by prohibition and unequal enforcement” and personal possession of up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis or its equivalent.
The types of cannabis-oriented businesses currently allowed by the law are retailer, hybrid retailer (which sells both adult-use and medical cannabis), cultivator (which cultivates 15,000 square feet or more), micro-cultivator (which start between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet), product manufacturer, food and beverage manufacturer, product packager, delivery service, and transporter.
According to the State Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), on-site consumption facilities are not currently permitted under state law. However, Hartford legislators are currently working on an amendment that would permit the consumption of food and beverages containing Cannabis/THC at such businesses, with strict mandated licensing and consumption limits.
However, according to the DCP and legislators, on-site consumption of cannabis in smokable forms is unlikely to ever be permitted in Connecticut. The state’s extremely strict smoking ordinances would require exhaustive overhauls of existing laws to accommodate carve-out legislation for weed cafes or restaurant-style commercial entities.