GUILFORD, CT — The Guilford Board of Selectmen on Wednesday night unanimously approved an ordinance that bans retail and hybrid cannabis establishments in town but still allows other forms of commerce.
The town had extended a moratorium on cannabis businesses several times.
“We may have been kicking this can down the road for a while, but one of the challenges is if we don’t do something one way or another, we are at the discretion of applicants who would like to open a cannabis establishment in town,” Hoey said Wednesday before a public hearing at the Community Center.
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The approved ordinance does not apply to medical cannabis dispensaries, but it calls for the prohibition of retail and hybrid cannabis establishments, like dispensaries; temporary cannabis events; cannabis product use on town property; and the sale, gift or transfer of cannabis products on town property.
Establishments other than retailers and hybrid retailers, such as producers, cultivators, micro-cultivators, food and beverage manufacturers, product manufacturers, product packagers, and delivery services are permitted in town, as long as they are properly licensed and in compliance with state statutes and local zoning requirements, according to the ordinance.
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The full ordinance can be viewed here.
The selectmen said they felt the ordinance was a “compromise,” and Hoey said the town could always revisit the issue.
“I’m comfortable with it, particularly as it relates to the fact that this is not the final decision on this going forward. We have the opportunity to revisit this in the future,” Hoey said.
Selectman Louis Federici said residents still have access to marijuana and can travel to neighboring towns, like Branford, to buy products. He said the argument around tax revenues that would be generated from allowing dispensaries wasn’t enough to change his mind about the ordinance.
Selectman Susan Renner also said there is still plenty of access to cannabis for residents.
“I think there are a lot of people in town who feel that their quality of life and the perception of their home would be so damaged by allowing this, that I think we have to honor that,” she said. “I don’t think anyone is harmed by this. I think anybody who wants to do whatever they want has plenty of opportunities, plenty of access.”
Before the selectmen voted, a public hearing was held to garner feedback from the community. Several residents spoke in favor of the ordinance and against it.
Lynne Cote, a longtime Guilford resident, supported the ordinance and said it said it “sets a tone or a statement for the town, not only for our youth but for everybody else that we stood up for something that we really don’t want to enter our town on a daily basis.”
Sue Hydinger, another resident, argued that cannabis is a “gateway drug” to hard drug use, and she urged the board to ask, “Are we going to promote addiction for profit?”
The nation’s first cannabis ombudsperson, Erin Gorman Kirk, a New Canaan resident who works for the state of Connecticut, spoke briefly and said that Guilford should permit compliant and licensed dispensaries, otherwise unlicensed and unregulated cannabis sales will continue at businesses like smoke shops.
Resident Eli Feur called the ordinance “regressive and unnecessary” and said it went against the broader public opinion on cannabis around the country and locally in Guilford.
“I think this is a proposed solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. I’m not aware of how the town has demonstrated the harm they’re seeking to address. I think it will have unintended consequences and I’m opposed,” Feur said.
Amanda Sweeney noted she saw a 50 percent increase in her taxes over the last two years.
“Being able to get an establishment that’s proven in other towns to bring in tax dollars to serve our community and continue to provide, I think, is something that’s beneficial,” Sweeney said. “Being such a close community by denying our citizens the right to stay local, we’re just pushing them to Branford where Branford gets the benefit of our tax dollars.”
Sweeney also referenced a 2022 survey conducted by Guilford on cannabis in which a majority of respondents were in favor of allowing cannabis retailers.
Hoey said the 1,000 people responded to the survey, so there were some “Quesitons about the statistical validity of a sample that size with around 18,000 adults in our community.”
“This board, on several occasions, never looked at this as a financial arrangement. The amount of revenue that could potentially come from this, particularly as demonstrated by what’s going on in Old Saybrook and what’s going on in Branford, would not move the needle significantly on anybody’s tax bill on their property,” Hoey said. “This board had always looked at this from a perspective that wasn’t driven by tax revenue.”
The approved ordinance will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2025.
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