WELLS, Maine — Voters shot down the prospect of adult-use cannabis shops in the community and elected a political newcomer to the Select Board at the June 10 election, according to unofficial results provided by the local town clerk.
By a vote of 1,132 to 670, voters rejected Article 17, which sought to amend the town’s Land Use Ordinance to allow locally approved medical marijuana dispensaries to become recreational cannabis shops.
The three owners of JAR Consulting brought the proposal before the town last summer, asserting that the market was moving away from medical marijuana, which they have been approved to sell in Wells. JAR is one of three dispensaries approved to operate in Wells.
After a months-long process, the Wells Planning Board recommended the Select Board reject the proposal and not place it on the ballot because JAR’s application did not meet all the criteria needed for support. However, the Select Board ultimately decided, although not unanimously, that voters should make the final decision.
At the polls at Wells Junior High School, resident David Agan explained why he voted no on Article 17.
“With all the traffic and all the drinking, maybe we don’t need a lot more cannabis use in town to affect safety,” he said.
Similarly, Rob Brown said he was going to vote against the proposal as he headed into the school’s gymnasium to cast his ballot.
“Life has not changed since the 1960s, as far as the effects of marijuana,” Brown said. “The stuff they are producing today is a lot less potent, but it’s still a drug.”
“We should not legalize what our parents made illegal,” he said. “There’s a reason they made it illegal.”
Political newcomer wins seat on the Select Board
Elsewhere on the ballot, the four-way contest for two seats on the Wells Select Board produced the re-election of one incumbent and the ouster of another.
Political newcomer Avery Seuter landed in the top spot, earning 933 votes, followed by incumbent Select Board Chair John MacLeod III with 900 votes.
Incumbent Select Board member Scott DeFelice lost his seat, placing third in the lineup with 857. Making his second run for the Select Board, challenger Mark Bagdasarian rounded out the roster, landing in fourth place with 587 votes.
Seuter, a recent graduate of York County Community College, said he wanted to serve on the Select Board because a recent collaboration between him and his friends and the local government gave him a taste of accomplishment and community service.
Seuter said the collaboration involved making pedestrian access between YCCC and Route 1 more accessible.
“That got me excited,” he said. “I like that you can identify a problem in town and can work with people to fix things.”
The ballot had two other contested races. Wells Sanitary District incumbent trustee Justin Batchelder and newcomer Andre Brousseau claimed the two available seats with 1,026 and 697 votes, respectively. The third candidate, Paul Baratta, earned 675 votes.
Cory Chase also won a term as a trustee of the Kennebunk Kennebunkport Wells Water District, defeating challenger Mark Bagdasarian, 878 to 683.
All budget items on the town meeting ballot passed.
