The Waldoboro Planning Board will hold a public hearing to discuss two draft ordinances governing methadone clinics and medical marijuana dispensaries.
The public hearing will be held Wed., May 11, at 7 p.m. at the Waldoboro town office.
The hearing is a chance for the planning board to hear citizens’ comments on the draft ordinances before they are sent to the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen for their approval. After the drafts are approved by the selectmen, they will go before voters. They will not be ready for the annual town meeting warrant this June.
Under the draft ordinances, the following restrictions will be placed on methadone clinics, medical marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana cultivation facilities:
For any of these types of facilities, approval by the Planning Board will be contingent on appropriate state certification.
All three types of facilities will be restricted to the Rt. 1 Commercial A District. This district consists of a band following Rt. 1 from the Nobleboro line to just before the intersection with Rt. 32, then from about Moody’s Diner to the Warren line.
Ample parking must be provided at the facilities, and methadone clinics are required to have sufficient inside seating. “Waiting or queuing of patients outside of the clinic building will not be tolerated.”
No such restrictions on waiting areas are provided in the medical marijuana facility ordinance.
For medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities, all related activities, including, but not limited to, “cultivating, growing, processing, displaying, selling and storage shall be conducted indoors and shall not be visible from outside.”
State regulations regarding medical marijuana facilities already control many aspects of these facilities, such as setbacks from schools and the requirement that all cultivation facilities be enclosed and locked, Waldoboro Planning and Development Director Misty Gorski said.
Waldoboro’s ordinances go further, requiring “evidence of on-site security” at all three types of facilities. “At a minimum … facilities shall have door and window intrusion alarms with audible and police notification components.”
Medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities are also required to have video surveillance. Cultivation facilities are required to have 24-hour video surveillance; dispensaries are required to have video surveillance at a minimum “at all times that the facility is not open to patients.”
No video surveillance is required at methadone clinics.
The draft ordinance also states that only one registered cultivation facility and one registered dispensary will be allowed in Waldoboro. There is no such limit on the number of methadone clinics allowed by the draft ordinance.