Simsbury bans retail cannabis sales

Ordinance passes with 4-2 vote, to be in effect through Sept. 2024

The Simsbury Board of Selectmen passed an 18-month ban on retail cannabis sales during a public meeting on Monday, town officials said.

The board voted 4-2 to pass an ordinance that bans the sale of retail cannabis until September 2024, according to First Selectwoman Wendy Mackstutis.

The same four board members who voted in favor of the ban at a Jan. 9 meeting — Amber Abbuhl, Chris Peterson, Sean Askham and Heather Goetz — voted to support the ordinance, which made it official on Monday. Those who voted against it last month — Mackstutis and board member Eric Wellman — opposed the ordinance in their votes Monday.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Feb. 13 but was postponed.

Mackstutis said Tuesday that she voted against the ordinance and the ban because she did not see any harm that would come from one retail cannabis store coming to the town.

“I think I didn’t see the harm, but I was supporting the [state’s] decision to legalize. And I had thought that we would have one retail store in Simsbury, which was how it was originally proposed,” she said

The town had been considering an adult-use dispensary on Route 44.

Mackstutis said the 18-month ban — which could be extended later — would stand unless the public demanded a referendum on retail sales.

Simsbury residents have spoken out at multiple public hearings about cannabis retail stores, said Mackstutis.

“Any resident can create a petition to allow it or not allow it,” she said. “They can take it into their own hands and get it on the ballot in November.”

The town hosts a 60,000-squarefoot cannabis cultivation facility where plants are grown and processed and various products are prepared for sale. The facility, on Hopmeadow Street in the Weatogue section of town, is run by Curaleaf. That business will not be affected by the ban.