Should Simsbury welcome Cannabis businesses?
SIMSBURY - Thomas Turner isn't pro or anti recreational cannabis sales, he's just pro-democracy.
"I'm pro-putting it on the ballot, do it right," the town resident said recently as he was out collecting signatures.
Turner is hoping to collect enough signatures to force a question onto a ballot that would allow residents to vote on whether the town should allow retail cannabis sales.
Currently the issue is on the shelf following a vote by the board of selectmen in February to place a 12-month moratorium on allowing such a business to open in town. The board increased that to 18 months at a later meeting so as not to bump up too closely to the upcoming municipal election and possibly saddle new-to-office elected officials with the issue almost immediately.
Simsbury First Selectwoman Wendy Mackstutis said Thursday the board made the decision to enact the moratorium based on a large volume of negative comments from the public regarding the possibility of such a business opening in town. Other towns have enacted similar ordinances in order to study the issue further following the state's decision to legalize the sale of recreational cannabis.
Mackstutis, who voted against the measure, does not believe having a recreational marijuana dispensary will bring as many negative connotations to Simsbury as some others do. She would also like to see the town collect taxes on such a business, especially since one is going to open in nearby Canton.
But if Turner's petition effort is successful, and Mackstutis, who signed it, believes it has a a good chance of getting on the ballot, the moratorium will become moot and recreational marijuana sales will either be allowed in town or they won't.
Turner, a Navy veteran, began the petition drive at the beginning of March and he has until Sept. 7th to reach the necessary 2,000 signatures. He's collected more than 1,000 so far.
Having it added to the ballot for the municipal election in which 3,500 to 4,000 voters typically turn out should give town officials a good indication of the people's will either way.
"I think they'll feel better if they know how the public feels," Turner said.
In the meantime, Mackstutis said, the town needs to start planning ahead in the event that voters approve the referendum question. There had been some discussions about the wording of regulations as well as discussions about areas were smoking marijuana would and would not be permitted, but those stalled when the moratorium was enacted.
"We need regulations in place (by the day of the vote)" she said, adding that there should be more flexibility for town staff to work on that when the interim town manage begins June 1. She said the town could also look to what policies other communities have adopted to help them move forward, as well as state laws related to smoking in public.
Chris Peterson, a Democrat on the board of selectman, said Thursday that there were three ways that the town could have handled the issue of retail cannabis sales: a vote of the select board; leave it to land use commissions; or let the people vote.
His preference was for the board of selectman to take a vote, but barring that, Peterson -who acknowledged supporting the moratorium because he didn't have the votes to prevent having retail cannabis sales come to Simsbury - thinks bringing the issue to referendum is the best outcome.
"I believe we as elected officials were put there to make policy-level decisions," he said. "Absent of that I support and believe in the townspeople driving the answer."
