CHESTER, Vt. – During their Jan. 19 meeting the Chester Selectboard reaffirmed that they would not approve the inclusion of cannabis retail in the town meeting vote this year. However, after the meeting, Chester resident and business owner Scott Blair worked out with the town that he may submit a petition that includes 5% of residents, or approximately 130 signatures of registered Chester voters, by Friday, Jan. 28, to include the issue on the town meeting ballot.
Although the decided upon deadline for articles had come and gone in mid-January, once a petition is received by the town, they must warn a meeting on the issue within 60 days. With three elections already projected for the year 2022, the town agreed to accept Blair’s petition for inclusion in this year’s town meeting in the hopes that it would limit the need for another election, according to Chester Town Clerk Deborah Aldrich.
After the board made the decision to again delay action on the cannabis retail vote, citing the need for more information, Blair, who runs a CBD business in town as well as Southern Pie Cafe, asked for clarification on how to put forward a petition to put the issue in front of voters. He stated that he had not petitioned for a special vote because he wanted to cooperate with the town and the selectboard. He reminded the selectboard that they had told the town a year ago “we would not be dragging our feet,” and would be looking into the regulations.
The board cited lack of information from the state as a reason for postponing the measure. Board Chair Arne Jonynas pointed to a 30-page municipal guidance document for municipalities that had just been received from the Cannabis Control Board as a seeming case in point.
Gwynn Zakov from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns was on hand via Zoom to answer questions from the board but did not make a formal presentation on the matter. Although she had not had a chance to thoroughly review the new document, she said that the municipal guidance was akin to the rules the local cannabis commission would use. She also spoke about current legislative bills that will settle on details for licensing fees and any other fees local governments might receive when issuing licenses. She went on to add that just because the rules and new guidance were still being finalized, that it did not mean there wasn’t clarity on how cannabis retails sales would work in Vermont.
Board member Lee Gustafson countered Zakov’s position, stating that after reading 150–200 pages of information, he was not as confident that they had enough information to move forward. “I’m not comfortable at this point that I understand, and would need assistance about what we’re getting into,” he said.
A document that was not discussed was a 23-page document that was part of the packet distributed to the board in advance of the meeting. Ten of those pages were an overview provided by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns on retail cannabis. The other 13 pages were a summary prepared by board member Lee Gustafson entitled “Why Marijuana Retail Sales are Not Good for Chester,” dated Feb. 26, 2021.
Blair spoke from the floor saying that waiting for more information doesn’t alter anything that’s going to be decided. “We’re asking the town if we want to have cannabis retail to happen in our town,” he said.
Blair said that Londonderry had already opted in and that he had an investor already lined up who lived in Londonderry, but had told them that his preference would be for a dispensary to be located in Chester to “help out my town with this market.” He said that since Ludlow had voted down the measure, it was an opportunity for Chester to capitalize and get the industry in town. “Marijuana and cannabis in general is the future; it’s already here,” he said. Blair said that if Chester were to opt in for approving cannabis retail, he would need time to pull together a business plan and address all the other regulations needed to be prepared for when the state issues licenses in October of this year.
After further discussion, and with several community members also speaking in favor of delay, and despite what may or may not have been read, the board unanimously voted to table the issue.
Blair now has until Friday to collect the signatures needed to file his petition with the town. According to Blair’s Facebook page, the petition will be at Southern Pie Café throughout the week for residents who would like to sign it.
The board approved the final 2022 general fund budget of $3,420,030.44, with an increase of as little as $77,000 from last year, representing a bump of just under two cents on resident taxes, or approximately $19 per $100,000 value of a property’s assessment.
The 2021 budget ended with a deficit of $142,000, mostly due to overages on the public safety building project, but that amount was covered by the town’s healthy fund balance, still leaving over $440,000 for future needs.
The next regular Chester Selectboard meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Chester Town Office and via Zoom.