WELLS — Marijuana has been legalized in Maine, but Wells residents may need to look outside their hometown when trying to purchase the substance once the guidelines for the commercial sale of the drug are hashed out.

During a Feb. 21 workshop, members of the Planning Department and Board of Selectmen reviewed language to amend the town’s zoning ordinance, aiming to make the Town of Wells retail marijuana free.

Town Manager Jon Carter said that Town Planner and Engineer Mike Livingston had developed language to amend the zoning ordinance as part of the recent recreational marijuana legislation. A citizen’s initiative to legalize marijuana was approved by Maine voters in November.

“What he was doing was testing the language with the Board of Selectmen to see if that’s the direction they want to go in,” Carter said. “The language is indicating that they are moving toward a dry town.”

According to Livingston, people would still be able to legally use marijuana in the privacy of their homes and property, but they wouldn’t be able to buy the substance in the town.

“We would not allow retail sales, retail cultivation, retail production, processing, testing, all of those things,” said Livingston. “So a lot of what we went over in the workshop was creating new definitions in town and not allowing those uses within the Town of Wells.”

When state marijuana legalization was being voted on during the 2016 election, Wells voted in favor of legalization by a 52-48 percent margin. Carter said that town officials are confident that the dry town status adheres to the resident’s preference.

“The town did pass recreational marijuana by vote, but obviously that was individual use of marijuana. You could not decipher from the vote if they supported retail or social club use,” said Carter.

Residents had voiced concerns, Livingston said, that given the town’s status as a family beach and tourist community, retail sales of marijuana would not be a positive image for the town.

Now, Livingston must work with the Planning Board and propose the ordinance amendment. A public hearing with the Planning Board will be held on March 20. The Board of Selectmen will also likely have a public hearing on the issue on April 4,. Livingston added the issue corresponds with land use and will go out to the voters who will have the ultimate say. He said it would probably be on the ballot of the June 13 town meeting.

“If they do decide not to (pass it) then we will relook at it,” Livingston said.

— Staff Writer Ryder Schumacher can be reached at 282-1535.