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South Berwick council approves three caregiver licenses, tables two pending ordinance and odor checks
Summary
At a March council meeting, South Berwick approved three registered caregiver licenses, including a downtown retail license with restricted hours, and tabled two others over a school-setback dispute and odor-mitigation concerns.
South Berwick — The Town Council on March 11 took action on five registered cannabis caregiver license applications, approving three licenses and tabling two for further review.
The council approved a retail caregiver license for Converse Industries doing business as Hidden Greens at 438 Lower Main Street with amended hours of operation set at 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The license vote followed code-enforcement review and a planning-board recommendation; councilors voted in favor on a recorded voice vote. Eric (applicant) said he wanted additional hours but agreed to the amended schedule during the meeting.
Councilors tabled Grow Cannabis’s application for a retail location at 297 Main Street until the council’s March 25 meeting, after staff flagged a potential conflict with the town’s 1,000-foot school setback. Jenny, the town’s code enforcement officer, told the council that planning-board approval does not substitute for council licensure and noted GIS door-to-door measurements put the site well inside the ordinance’s setback. The council voted 4–0 to table the item to allow staff and legal counsel to review the change-of-ownership question raised by the applicant.
The council granted an on-site cultivation license to an applicant listed as Cody at 556 Emrys Bridge Road; code enforcement reported no outstanding health or safety objections and department heads submitted positive letters. The vote to approve that cultivation license was unanimous.
A renewal application for High Striker Farm (104 Pond Road), operated by Ryan Reed, was tabled to March 25 after multiple odor complaints were described in the record. Reed told the council he uses carbon filtration, ozone generators and an odor-masking product (Ona) in a small greenhouse; code enforcement and the police chief had asked the council to require a specific mitigation plan. The council voted 4–0 to table while staff prepares options for conditions or mitigation steps.
The council also approved a caregiver delivery-only license for 599 LLC (doing business as Sugar Shack) at 599 Emrys Bridge Road; department review was favorable and the council voted 4–0 to grant the license.
Why it matters: Licenses affect where cannabis products are sold and grown in town and can trigger neighborhood concerns about hours, odor and setback from sensitive sites such as schools. The council used amendments and tabling where the ordinance or neighborhood impacts required more information.
What’s next: Grow Cannabis and High Striker Farm were both scheduled for reconsideration at the council’s March 25 meeting; the council asked staff to provide legal analysis on change-of-ownership rules and to recommend specific, enforceable odor-mitigation steps when available.
