WESTPORT — It does not look as though the town will prohibit recreational marijuana but regulations could be on the way.
Selectmen recently voted to avoid a prohibition and voted to give the Planning Board clearance to begin drafting regulations and zoning terms. Town Meeting voters would have the final say.
Planning Board Chairman James Whitin and Town Planner James Hartnett met with selectmen about the issue for the second consecutive meeting. The pair cautioned that the moratorium on recreational marijuana will expire in June and there is a deadline to begin planning for regulations and other terms.
Hartnett said selectmen could go as far as recommending that these facilities be limited to 20 percent of the total liquor license stores. If that were the case, only two such facilities would be allowed within town borders.
Whitin also mentioned that the town can plan on zoning it in certain locations.
Like the previous selectmen’s meeting, Selectmen Craig Dutra and Brian Valcourt spoke disapprovingly of any sort of prohibition.
Valcourt noted that town voters resoundingly voted in favor of it, with approximately 58 percent casting approval. Valcourt also spoke out against limiting the number of facilities to 20 percent of liquor stores.
“My position is to allow them in any business district that allows alcohol,” Valcourt said.
Selectwoman Shana Shufelt also expressed a view more closely aligned with Dutra and Valcourt, but Selectmen Steven Ouellette and R. Michael Sullivan had a different take.
Sullivan proposed polling precincts to decide if voters would approve of it in their particular voting precinct.
The discussion on Monday also brought out strong public opinions.
Wayne Sunderland, a former municipal planner, spoke against it. He and Sullivan shared the opinion that “nothing good will come out of it.”
“Why don’t you put it on the moon where it belongs,” Sunderland said.
Constance Gee, who has a medical marijuana card, said she is in full support of legalization but says it must be “regulated well and done well.”
“If it is done right, if it is done well, it is not a scourge,” Gee said.
Chris Wiley agreed with Valcourt’s stance that the measure could bring in revenue and business for the town. Wiley also said that the medical facilities in other parts of the state have strict security, with expenses and measures assumed by the facilities and not the communities.
credit:heraldnews.com