Planning board tables cannabis ordinance review pending administrative appeal

The Caribou Planning Board voted to postpone further work on reconciling the city’s cannabis ordinance after staff said the city had been served with a complaint challenging Ordinance 3, which the transcript described as an administrative appeal. Planning staff had been asked by the City Council to reconcile and integrate Ordinance 3 with local planning regulations, but staff said the pending complaint makes it premature to proceed.

At the meeting, planning staff reported that the council passed Ordinance 3 on July 28 and later asked the planning board to assist with integrating licensing language from chapter 7. Staff said they had contacted Northstar Planning for technical assistance if the process proceeds. Because the city has been served with an appeal or complaint (described in the discussion as from an administrative body or court), staff recommended the planning board delay drafting changes until the complaint resolves.

A board member moved to forgo further planning-board action on the cannabis ordinance review pending clarification and the outcome of the appeal; another member seconded the motion. A roll-call vote recorded unanimous approval to table the item.

The board’s action was procedural: it pauses the planning board’s work to avoid drafting amendments that could be overtaken by the pending legal action. Planning staff said the city attorney is working on the matter and that Northstar Planning has been contacted as a potential consultant. No ordinance text changes were proposed or adopted at the meeting.