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Two cannabis business owners continue to fight over their shared Lisbon location.
The owners of 207 Edibles and Lisbon Cannabis Co. had license applications before the Lisbon Town Council last week, and both had asked for the other’s to be denied.
In the end, councilors took no action, leaving neither of the owners happy.
At issue is the building at 5 Canal St., where Lorelei Hilliker operates 207 Edibles, a cannabis edible manufacturing business, on the second floor, while Jason Smith operates Lisbon Cannabis Co., a medical marijuana storefront, on the first floor.
Hilliker and Smith jointly own the building, which has been the subject of an ongoing legal dispute that has left Hilliker as the property’s operator, though Smith retains an interest.
Hilliker is seeking approval to operate a storefront out of the building where she can sell her products. Smith was asking councilors to renew the license for his store at 5 Canal St. while also approving a new license for a store at 743 Lisbon St., where he can move his business in the future as a result of the dispute with Hilliker.
Councilors ultimately voted 5-1 to deny Hilliker’s application, with Charlie Turgeon the lone dissenting vote and Greg Garnett recusing himself, because her store would be within 2,000 feet of a medical marijuana business, River Driver Cannabis Co., which goes against town ordinance.
But Hilliker argued that because her property has been used as a medical marijuana retail store, it is subject to an exception to that rule as outlined in the ordinance.
Hilliker argued that while marijuana licenses can’t be transferred between people, her 5 Canal St. building is grandfathered under the law. The ability for someone to operate a marijuana retail business out of that building, as long as the retail license does not lapse beyond 90 days, is grandfathered in the town ordinance despite the proximity to other marijuana retail businesses, she argued.
Smith said he plans to move his Lisbon Cannabis Co. out of the building sometime this summer. That, Hilliker says, will give her a 90-day window when she can be granted her retail license for for the building under the ordinance.
At times during council deliberations, Hilliker became disruptive and council Chairman Chris Camire asked her to stop making statements from the audience and let councilors finish their discussions.
After Hilliker’s application was denied, councilors deliberated on the two applications from Smith.
Councilors unanimously denied Smith’s application for a license for 743 Lisbon St. because he had not yet presented construction plans for the property to the Planning Board, as required by town ordinance.
Smith’s second marijuana retail application was to renew his retail license at 5 Canal St., where he has operated his shop for several years.
Hilliker and Smith have had ongoing legal disputes around the operations of that property and recently an arbitrator determined that Hilliker is the sole manager, though Smith still has interest in the property and must help pay for the operations and upkeep. He is entitled to profits, and Hilliker must keep him promptly updated about her management of the property, under the agreement.
Hilliker claimed last week that because she is the sole manager of the building, Smith needs her permission to operate his business there. She said she has given no such approval. She has also served him with an eviction notice.
Smith, through his attorney, said he does not need Hilliker’s permission. The documents he submitted in his license renewal for the Canal Street building meet town ordinance requirements. His attorney argued that the arbitration decision is stayed until an appeal he filed is heard by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
The town attorney essentially agreed with Smith’s attorney. He said it is common in civil legal matters to wait to implement a legal determination until appeals have made their way through the court.
Hilliker disagreed. She argued that the council should act according to the arbitrator’s legal determination without waiting for a decision on the appeal.
Councilors ultimately tabled Smith’s renewal application at 5 Canal St. because they were not sure whether his property interest documentation met ordinance requirements. His retail license for that location does not expire until June.
Kendra Caruso is the Auburn city reporter for the Sun Journal. After graduating from the University of Maine in 2019, she got her start in journalism at The Republican Journal in Belfast. She started working… More by Kendra Caruso
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