The Gorham Town Council amended Chapter 2: Section 2-17 – Adult-Use Marijuana Cultivation for Personal Use at its August 6 meeting.
The purpose of the chapter is to “regulate personal cultivation of marijuana for the grower’s use on the property where the growers’ residence is located.” The ordinance prohibits individuals who do not live at the residence from cultivating marijuana, the sale of “adult-use” marijuana, and the cultivation of marijuana for commercial purposes.
By designation of the ordinance, an authorized grower is defined as “a person twenty-one years of age or older who resides on the lot where the adult-use marijuana is being cultivated in compliance with state law.”
Cultivation indoors requires a structure that can be locked and outdoor cultivation requires that plants be located within a fenced-in area, where the fence is at least six feet in height and can be locked. Cultivation areas should be set back at least 50 feet from the property line and should not be visible from outside the residence.
Growers are allowed a maximum of three mature plants and twelve immature plans in an area of 50 square feet.
Amendments made to the ordinance by the Town Council on August 6 include the additional standard that “the odor generated from marijuana cultivation or harvesting at the subject property shall not be reasonably detected from any adjacent lot or public right-of-way.” Additionally, the initial permit for cultivation shall be valid for six months, not one year, and may be renewed annually for a one-year duration thereafter.
According to Ben Hartwell, Chairman of the Town Council, “home rule authority is a power granted to us by the State, but the State has the power to preempt our powers and that is exactly what they’ve done with recreational marijuana use. They have left us some room to regulate the use of marijuana in municipalities and that is exactly what this order did. So we really didn’t pass this to allow the use, that has already been done at the State level and we can’t stop it. This order allows us to regulate what we can.”
Cultivation permit applications and extensions can be obtained at the Town Hall, however, Code Enforcement Officers will be tasked with ensuring that violations of the ordinance, including odors drifting over to a neighbor’s property, are not being broken. Any violation or infraction could lead to the revocation of the permit, fines, and penalties.