FREEPORT

The Freeport Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday with one councilor abstaining to adopt a ban on all retail marijuana operations. The decision followed a public hearing where a majority of residents spoke in favor of the exclusion.

Councilors approved a Maine Municipal Association template ordinance to prohibit marijuana retail operations, including cultivation and testing facilities. About 13 residents at the meeting were in favor of the ban.

“We like the ordinance, we want it, please pass it and get onto other business,” resident Joyce Veilleux said.

Chairwoman Sarah Tracy voted against the motion. Although she opposed marijuana retail shops and social clubs, she was not against testing and cultivation operations that would not be open to the public.

Councilor Leland Arris said he supports the ban as a public official wanting to uphold the rule of law, adding marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

The council took a straw poll vote earlier this year, and it was clear they were leaning toward a ban of all retail operations. With this intention in mind, the planning board said it did not want to work out rules governing retail marijuana if the council was not open to its allowance, said Tracy at a previous meeting in June.

Councilor Bill Rixon proposed the question be sent to voters through a referendum, as the November ballot initiative was accepted by 57 percent of Freeport residents. The suggestion was defeated 5-2.

Rixon abstained from the vote Tuesday because he reiterated that the public should have more input.

Tracy said she agreed with a comment made by a resident that people are apprehensive to speak publicly about their support for retail operations, but in the privacy of the voting booth, were largely in favor of the referendum.

Councilor Melanie Sachs was absent from the meeting.

The ban does not affect the personal use of marijuana and cultivation of marijuana on private property.

Statewide and in Freeport in November, voters approved referendum Question 1, making recreational pot legal, taxable and subject to the local ordinance. Towns can restrict retail operations.

The state has not yet finalized legal language concerning retail marijuana sales and operations.

jlaaka@timesrecord.com