Presque Isle, which first approved marijuana sales and manufacturing nearly six years ago, will soon see its 10th cannabis business.
Marijuanaville, an in-state chain of medical dispensaries mostly based in central Maine, will move into the former NAPA Auto Parts building at the corner of Main Street and Riverside Drive.
It will be the ninth retail cannabis store on the city’s Main Street, where they are allowed to operate under the city ordinance’s zoning provision, barring setbacks for schools, churches, daycares, community centers and other cannabis stores.
The industry has exploded in Aroostook County’s biggest city since it legalized the sale and cultivation of marijuana in 2020.
But five years later, with the businesses heavily populating the most trafficked area of the city, members of the council indicated it might be time for change.
In approving the new business earlier this week, councilors questioned the merits of having “another business of this sort” and raised the possibility of reviewing the city’s marijuana ordinance — which is effective until next June — for changes.
“I’ve had citizens come to me questioning the wisdom of the setbacks and directing them all onto Main Street, just how that’s kind of changed the face of our downtown a little bit and is also taking up a lot of the available retail and different spaces,” Councilor Mike Chasse said during a meeting Wednesday.
“I think it might make sense maybe before June if we revisit the ordinance and just see if it still makes sense or not,” he said.
Presque Isle remains one of the few municipalities in Aroostook County to have embraced the legalization of marijuana.
Caribou does not allow recreational cannabis stores and caps the number of medical dispensaries at two. Houlton banned retail establishments in 2018, but last year changed its ordinance to grandfather in five medical caregivers in the city that were newly considered retail stores under a state law change. Fort Fairfield does not allow marijuana businesses of any kind.
Grand Isle, a St. John Valley town of less than 400, is one of the only other northern Maine communities to have legalized recreational sales.
On a per capita basis, Presque Isle rivals or bests the marijuana scene of some of Maine’s major cities. Once its latest business opens, the city of 8,797 will have 1.1 cannabis businesses per 1,000 residents. Bangor offers 0.44 businesses per 1,000. Portland, with 49 adult use and medical businesses licensed with the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, has 0.72 per 1,000.
Presque Isle’s marijuana ordinance, which was amended in 2022, has a sunset provision that sets it to expire after four years unless the City Council approves it again. That expiration date is June 1, 2026, four years after the amendment.
Council Chair Jeff Willette raised the topic of that provision Wednesday, saying that the council should probably review the ordinance “relatively soon,” before returning the individual license approval at hand.
“That’s kind of why I brought up the sunset provision on the ordinance,” Willette said. “That gives us an opportunity to make any recommended changes … but for now, everything seems to be legit and in-line with his application.”
The council voted 5-1 with one councilor absent to approve the license for Marijuanaville. Councilor Craig Green was the lone opposing vote.
“I guess I’m not really crazy about another business of this sort in the community, especially at that location, where it’s kind of a crossroads of downtown,” Green said.
Like Presque Isle’s cannabis scene, Marijuanaville, owned by businessman Frank Berenyi, has rapidly expanded its footprint in recent years.
Presque Isle will be the 13th location of Berenyi’s medical dispensary chain, joining Augusta, Alfred, Bangor, Gardiner, Lewiston, Orland, Newport, Readfield, Unity, Waterville, Wilton and Winslow.
The Orland and Lewiston locations each opened in the last two months.
