Operators of a medical marijuana grow house in Bucksport are trying to get a local license after the site allegedly ran without one for years.
The property on Route 46 is one of two that town officials learned earlier this year had received state registration to grow medical cannabis, despite not having the town approvals that Bucksport’s ordinances require – which they told the state they were in compliance with.
Local licensing requires a planning board review of items including security systems and odor control. The board tabled a decision on a site plan Tuesday, citing a need for more information about odor control options and how such requirements could be enforced.
The situation has raised concerns at the town level about the state’s process for approving such operations supplying Maine’s medical marijuana market, which is more loosely regulated than growing for recreational sale.
“I’ve told the state they need to do better,” Bucksport Code Enforcement Officer Luke Chiavelli said.
Two people associated with operations at the Bucksport house, “GuoXin Gardens,” appeared before the planning board Tuesday, represented by Garrett Lower, a code enforcement officer from central Maine acting as a consultant. The plan applicant is Guo Xin Chen, according to town documents.
Lower said he previously helped them meet regulations at a facility they opened in Skowhegan, and attributed issues there to a lack of understanding about what requirements they needed to meet. He also noted a language barrier.
He and Chiavelli both said the two have been responsive and actively working to get into compliance in Bucksport. The duplex home is split between grow rooms and livable rooms, according to Chiavelli, but is uninhabited.
Steve Howard, who lives next door to the property, said he has been smelling weed from it outside his home at least several times a month for the last three years but had assumed it was from personal use.
“To have a commercial grow site next to my house, I’m not going to be too thrilled about it,” he said.
He doesn’t think his visiting grandchildren should be smelling it, Howard said, and he’s concerned about security there along with the potential of fire.
Howard also took issue with the idea of the operation getting approval now after operating without a local license, he said, and he wonders where the product has been sold.
The state Office of Cannabis Policy issues medical marijuana caregiver registrations and notifies towns after the fact. Applicants have to say they are in line with local ordinances to get state approval.
Bucksport officials have said they want to see that process changed to require local signoff first, the same way liquor licenses are approved.
Since the summer of 2022, Bucksport has had a local review process treating the sites as businesses. That can help provide information for fire and police department responses.
Four years ago, a house on Bucksmills Road burned down and was revealed to be a grow site. Two men later faced federal charges of committing bank fraud to purchase and use the property for illegal marijuana growing.
Chiavelli said he and a member of the fire department recently visited the Route 46 property and found some “easily fixed” issues including outlet safety, plumbing that needs backflow preventers, changes to the security camera system and improvements to the air filtration system.
The operators are working on that list, according to him and Lower.
“You could smell the marijuana outside quite strong,” Chiavelli noted.
Lower said that smell was due to a faulty air filter.
Planning board members said they needed more information about air filtration options before voting on the odor control plan or adding conditions of approval, and tabled the application until their May meeting.
