WARE — Voters in April will decide whether recreational marijuana businesses should be banned in town.The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted 3-2 to include the referendum question in next April’s town election.
Selectman John Carroll — who has frequently spoken out against allowing retail marijuana establishments in town — made the motion to put the question on the ballot. Selectman Tracy Opalinsky seconded Carroll’s motion. Chairman Nancy Talbot also voted for the measure.
“I think we have enough drug issues already,” Carroll said.
Selectmen Alan Whitney and Michael Fountain voted against.
“If we ban this, do we ban alcohol next?” Whitney said.
He said the community had already lost out on a potential medical marijuana business — due to, according to Whitney, fear on the part of a businessman that Ware officials were pushing zoning ordinances that would make it difficult to operate.
Whitney said the town would have benefited economically from the 18 full-time jobs and tax revenue the operation could have brought.
He asserted that the proposal to ban recreational pot shops would discourage investment in Ware by potential recreational marijuana retail outlets.
The packet for Tuesday’s meeting included a copy of a similar ballot question used in Milford, which earlier this fall voted to ban recreational marijuana stores.
Ware Town Meeting a year ago rejected a two-year moratorium on recreational marijuana stores. The Planning Board proposed the moratorium and the Board of Selectmen, town manager and Finance Committee supported it.
During a special Town Meeting earlier this month, Ware voters approved an article that allows the municipality to charge a 3 percent tax on the sale of marijuana in town. Officials touted that as a way to raise revenue for the financially strapped community.
The meeting also approved zoning ordinances stipulating where recreational marijuana stores can operate in Ware.
Ware Town Manager Stuart Beckley on Tuesday warned that marijuana “could be an entry drug” to more dangerous narcotics such as opiods, but also said selectmen should consider the revenue the town could accrue from the local sales tax and money from host agreements negotiated between marijuana sellers and the municipality.
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