Milford looks to allow the sale of Recreational Marijuana within its city limits
The ordinances and regulations around the sale of marijuana in Milford have yet to be set, but Milford City Council has decided not to ban it.
This sets them apart from the beach towns that quickly moved to ban sales outright, and puts them more in line with Dover, which is looking for input on zoning for marijuana facilities.
But unlike Dover, Milford already has medical marijuana cultivation facilities. They were one of the first cities in the state to open one in 2018, and are set to welcome a second facility run by the same company, Columbia Care.
Councilwoman Katrina Wilson says the city should set a precedent and be the first large municipality to allow the sale of recreational marijuana.
“We have to be consistent,” said Wilson. “We have a growery here - two groweries here. Therefore if we accepted that part of it, why wouldn’t we allow there to be retail here to sell the product?”
Council is considering two options: adopt state procedures, or develop its own, using city regulations governing alcohol, tobacco and firearms sales as a guide.
The state has yet to set their regulations surrounding the growth, sale, and testing of marijuana, but the City’s Planning Director Rob Pierce says they will open a line of communication with them.
“I think we should wait and see what the state comes up with in terms of their regulations. They might already be willing to set hours of operation or the distance between the facilities, and it might be something that council’s comfortable with. But we can kind of keep an eye on how that's progressing and come back at a later date,” said Pierce.
Milford will also look to best practices in other states that have gone through a similar process, and plan to bring their Chief of Public Safety into the conversation.
