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Ellsworth council adopts ordinance changes to regulate adult‑use and medical cannabis
Summary
The City Council voted to revise Chapter 56 (Unified Development Ordinance) and Chapter 14 (Licenses & Permits) to add performance standards for adult‑use cannabis stores and update medical dispensary rules, clear up cross‑references, and set a 30‑day application window with a lottery if more than three complete applications are received.
The Ellsworth City Council on a routine vote approved technical and substantive revisions to municipal land‑use and licensing chapters to incorporate performance standards for adult‑use cannabis stores and align medical dispensary licensing with the newly adopted adult‑use rules. Danielle Gift, the city’s urban planning and development director, presented the changes and said staff corrected “minor reference errors” and that signage provisions will point to the city’s sign article.
The revisions add performance standards to Chapter 56 (Article 8) and update Chapter 14 to reflect the adult‑use store license the council approved recently. Gift told the council the next procedural step is a city‑wide mailer to notify property owners about the cannabis overlay zone, after which the city will open a 30‑day application window. “Once that is done, we are ready. We will be ready to open the application window, which will be open for 30 days. After that, there’ll be a lottery,” Gift said.
Councilors asked how the city will handle locations in downtown and historic areas; staff said the overlay limits where adult‑use stores may operate and that the updated medical performance standards now mirror certain restrictions for signs and window displays. The city attorney, Tim Pease, advised councilors that legacy or "grandfather" rights remain a fact‑specific inquiry but reiterated that municipal licenses themselves are not automatically transferable; new owners must demonstrate they meet licensing standards.
The council’s action approves the corrected ordinance language and enables staff to proceed with the notice and public application process. The city will return with application materials and, if needed, conditional license approvals for applicants drawn in a lottery.
