CONWAY — The Planning Board and attorneys representing Roaring Glen Farms LLC agreed Thursday to hold further discussions about potential modifications to a special permit that was issued to the recreational marijuana cultivation facility last spring.
The discussion focused on the terms of ownership in the special permit issued to Roaring Glen Farms LLC, which is owned by husband and wife John Moore and Lisa Gustavsen at 40 Whately Glen Road. Moore said he owns 51 percent of the property while his wife owns 49 percent. The issue in ownership comes from the farm’s status as a cooperative and transferring shares of the LLC to coop members.
At a previous meeting, the farm requested interpretation of bylaw 11.5R, which states a special permit will expire if more than 10 percent of ownership is transferred. The farm plans to have 10 coop shares representing 4 percent interest each, for a total of 40 percent. Since each share is under 10 percent ownership, the farm’s attorneys are arguing 11.5R is irrelevant.
Attorney Tom Lesser, one of the lawyers representing Moore, also argued the special permit is issued to the property, not the LLC. He said Chapter 94G of state law, which regulates recreational marijuana, deals with the “time, place and matter” of an establishment and nothing to do with who owns the property.
“We think the Cannabis Control Commission has a whole different process,” Lesser said. “We have problems reconciling local ordinances with 94G.”
The discussion, however, was railroaded when the Planning Board pulled out a second opinion for Conway town counsel John Fitz-Gibbon. Fitz-Gibbon had issued another opinion on the matter, which the Planning Board had received at 4 p.m. Thursday. Lesser did not receive the opinion until he was given a copy at the meeting.
Lesser said Roaring Glen Farms LLC needed time to look over Fitz-Gibbon’s second opinion and said they will discuss the issue further at the next meeting.
“We’ll come back and get back to you with our position,” Lesser said. “We are not prepared to discuss what direction we are going in.”
Planning Board members agreed with Lesser that Conway’s bylaws will need to be interpreted further because of the complexity of the situation.
The Planning Board also discussed a possible South River corridor easement plan on Thursday. Conway is involved in multiple conservation projects with the South River and is in the process of negotiating the purchase of three land parcels connected to the river. Town residents approved the transactions at Annual Town Meeting in June.
Associate member Joe Strzegowski said the Franklin Land Trust is in the early stages of creating a compensation plan for properties connected to the river.
“If you let the river do what it wants to do on your property, you get compensated,” Strzegowski said. “There might be money to protect this corridor.”
Any work with the river corridor would also involve a zoning overlay map and bylaw changes, which would need to be approved at another Town Meeting.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder or 413-930-4081.