At their meeting on Dec. 14, the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen approved a special town meeting to be held Jan. 11 to decide whether to place six-month moratoriums on methadone clinics and medical marijuana dispensaries.
The board will finalize the language to be presented to voters for the two moratoriums at their next meeting Dec. 28.
Officials stressed there have been no applications or proposals to open a methadone clinic in Waldoboro, but the moratorium will block any potential applications for six months while the town reviews land use ordinances and creates language applicable to such facilities.
Waldoboro Town Manager William Post and Code Enforcement Officer Misty Gorski said the decision to pursue a moratorium on methadone clinics was prompted by recent struggles in Warren with a proposed clinic and the closure of the clinic in Rockland.
The application in Warren appears to have been withdrawn recently, Gorski said. With that facility off the books and the Rockland clinic closed, the closest methadone clinic is in Waterville.
The lack of a clinic in this area has bred concerns among opponents to a clinic that Waldoboro may be the next in line.
During the struggles in Warren, Waldoboro town officials began looking into the clinics, Post said. At the same time, several residents came to the town to request action be taken to prevent a methadone clinic from being opened.
The moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries is being included so the town can address the two at the same time, Gorski said.
The moratorium requires a town vote, and in order to move the issue forward as soon as possible, the selectmen chose an open town meeting – rather than a referendum vote – which has about a month shorter lead-time than a referendum.
While the moratorium will give the town time to organize its ordinances pertaining to methadone clinics and marijuana dispensaries, the facilities cannot legally be blocked permanently, officials said.
Methadone clinics are “a facility that has real need,” Gorski told the planning board at a meeting Dec. 8 to prepare them for the process. “We can’t ban them outright, but we can create intelligent language that limits any negative impact on the town.”
Gorski told the planning board at that meeting under current town ordinance, methadone clinics and medical marijuana dispensaries would classify as medical offices, which are allowed in six of the town’s 10 land use zones: two areas along Rt. 1; in and around the downtown village; in north Waldoboro near Washington and Old Augusta roads; and, near the industrial park on Rt. 32.
There are no specific performance standards for medical offices in current town ordinance, but Gorski said language could be written to restrict location, control traffic, and specify police patrols for the facilities.
“We also have to make sure that people using [the] facility get the best possible care,” Misty said in a telephone interview following the planning board meeting.
The selectmen voiced full support of the moratorium.
“It would seem we’re in desperate need of some detailed definitions,” Selectman Ted Wooster said.
