The Damariscotta Planning Board approved an application for a medical cannabis, or marijuana, storefront Monday, July 2, after receiving no comments during a public hearing.
Business partners Ryan Ellis and Mark Ferrero plan to open the storefront at 202 Main St. in downtown Damariscotta.
Ellis and Ferrero are licensed medical cannabis caregivers, and Ellis is the director of Compassionate Caregivers of Maine.
Ellis also owns the unaffiliated company Greenport Cannabis Co., which delivers cannabis to customers at their homes. He owns a commercial facility in Richmond where the cultivation takes place.
The shop, which would have the same name as his company, would be a “caregiver’s storefront,” according to Ellis, and would not sell marijuana for recreational use. There would be no smoking on the property, and anyone under 18 would need to be accompanied by a guardian.
They have already signed a one-year lease for the space. Attorney David Levesque owns the building.
The store’s tentative hours are noon to 6 or 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
The planning board reviewed the application June 4 and asked that Damariscotta Fire Chief John Roberts be notified of the business’s plan and provide any concerns he may have in writing.
Ellis and Ferrero sent a letter, however, they did not receive a response. The planning board then approved the application, pending its receipt of a letter from Roberts. If Roberts responds with concerns, the applicants would need to address those concerns before they open the storefront.
Other business
Scott Gray, crew chief of the Boothbay surveying firm Leighton & Associates Inc., presented an updated plan for Zander Lee Construction’s proposed subdivision on Nissen Farm Lane.
The proposed 41-acre subdivision project would extend Nissen Farm Lane, and would be a nine-lot subdivision.
There is already a subdivision on Nissen Farm Lane. Gray said that while the new subdivision would be a separate entity, it would look very similar to the current subdivision.
The plan went in front of the board multiple times last year, and the public voiced concerns about things such as the number of lots. The new plan downsizes the number of lots from what had previously been proposed.
The planning board approved the preliminary plan, but asked for a homeowners association document detailing how the two subdivisions would work together, and a profile of the road.
There will be a public hearing on the subdivision at the town office at 6 p.m. Aug. 6.
Valerie Seibel came back before the planning board for the proposed expansion of a nonconforming house in the shoreland zone, at 197 Twin Cove Lane.
Members of the planning board visited the property May 24 to determine whether the proposed expansion would be toward the water or not.
The planning board approved Seibel’s plan with the stipulation that Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz look at the property and measurements one more time.
Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus provided an update to the board on the downtown public restrooms, saying the sale agreement with Dan and Eileen Miller for the barbershop property has been finalized.
The board then approved the application for the project.
The next planning board meeting will take place at the town office at 6 p.m. Aug. 6.
