City Council seats study committee on legalizing growers in Woonsocket
WOONSOCKET – It looks like the political quagmire is over for medical marijuana.
No longer demanding policy guidance from the mayor, the City Council voted unanimously Monday to seat a subcommittee to formulate regulations governing indoor cultivation of medicinal cannabis for state-licensed commercial growers.
Councilors said the subcommittee could have an ordinance ready in two weeks, though it could take months for such a measure to be fully vetted by the Planning Board and aired publicly before final approval by the legislators. The move would end a ban on the indoor cultivation of marijuana that has been in force since March 2016.
“I believe that we, as the seven members of the City Council, can put this together, can work on it and come up with a great ordinance,” Councilman Richard Fagnant said before voting in Harris Hall.
Fagnant may have brought the o impasse over the cultivation ban to a tipping point in recent weeks after twice proposing to strike the ban by changing just one word in the
Zoning Ordinance covering indoor agriculture, swapping “excluding cannabis” for “including cannabis.”
The efforts came to naught as other members of the council criticized Fagnant’s plan as overly simplistic, saying it failed to address licensing fees and protections for neighbors.
Calling himself a “self-adjusting man,” Fagnant said he took the criticism to heart and went back to work on a new measure. He’s presented a draft to fellow councilors, who now welcome the overhaul as a useful point of departure for the subcommittee.
“I think that what Councilman Fagnant had sent to us already will be a good start for that subcommittee to work on,” said Council President Dan Gendron. “It encompasses a lot more comprehensive issues pertaining to marijuana cultivation. We still have to deal with the licensing, but I think it gives us a good starting point.”
While some councilors would still like to hear what Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt has to say about the proposal, Fagnant said members of the mayor’s administration helped him greatly in developing the draft. He singled out Zoning Official Carl Johnson and City Solicitor John DeSimone for credit.
Because “some of the fellow council members didn’t like the setup” of his earlier proposal, Fagnant said, “I hurried up and contacted our city solicitor and zoning person... I said let’s put together something that has a little more teeth and in line with what everybody’s talking about.”
Fagnant thinks the city’s failure to embrace medical marijuana may be a missed opportunity and wants the council to lift the ban as soon as possible. Calling it the “second biggest issue” since Invenergy proposed an $18 million, 20-year deal to buy water from the city for the Clear River Energy Center co-generation plant in Burrillville (an offer the council rejected), Fagnant expressed strong interest in serving on the subcommittee.
Gendron offered to step aside to make room for him, but DeSimone said doing so would require a revision to the subcommittee ordinance and push back the formation of the panel by at least two weeks. At that point, Fagnant withdrew, saying he’d rather see the council get to work on firming up legislation to lift the ban as soon as possible.
“It’s not going to bother me in the least,” Fagnant said. “This issue is more important to me.”
In addition to Gendron, chairman of the subcommittee to explore farming marijuana, members include Councilwoman Melissa A. Murray and Councilman James C. Cournoyer.
Among other things, the draft ordinance from which the panel will work – the measure proposed by Fagnant – would:
● Allow commercial cultivators only in structures that are industrially zoned, located on at least five acres of land. Residential, mixed-use and commercial zones would still be off-limits. ● Require growers to submit plans depicting all electrical, plumbing and HVAC equipment, enabling the city to oversee all facets of manufacturing, sanitation, odor control, pesticide use and byproduct disposal – regulations similar to those already enforced by the state Department of Business Regulation.
● Prohibit any facility closer than 1,000 feet from a public or private school.
● Prohibit the use of butane, propane or other flammable substances for the purpose of drawing liquid extract from leaf marijuana to create a smokable, resinous product known as rosin.
At first blush, Cournoyer said after a quick review of the proposal, “I think we’re headed in the right direction.” But one important omission from the measure is the issue of licensing, he said.
“It is critical that we address that, most importantly, in terms of fees,” he said.
While it’s plain that the council is no longer waiting for a recommendation from Baldelli-Hunt on medical marijuana, Council Vice President Jon Brien said the public still deserves to know where its chief executive stands on the issue. The mayor has repeatedly said the question is purely legislative and doesn’t require her input, but Brien disagreed.
“As the CEO and leader in the community, the mayor owes that response to you, my colleagues,” he said. “It’s also owed to the public...the constituents she answers to.”
Baldelli-Hunt was not present at the meeting to offer a rebuttal.
The issue has been festering since last September, when the manager of the Nyanza Mill first urged the council to lift the ban on indoor cultivation as a replacement for Hanora Spinning, a longtime thread manufacturer that was vanquished by foreign competition in late 2016. Gerry Beyer said he’s since been approached by several licensed growers who want to lease space in the mostly vacant, 240,000-square-foot mill overlooking the Blackstone River.
“There’s a lot of industrial space in the city,” said Beyer, in the latest of many appearance before the council Monday. “Manufacturers aren’t coming in...I’m asking the council for help so this building can survive.”