MedicalNeed
New Member
AUGUSTA - The state-approved operator of a proposed regional medical marijuana dispensary has given up on one site but hopes to find a suitable one not too far away.
Northeast Patients Group Executive Director Becky DeKeuster said the group is no longer considering 10 Middle Road to open a medical marijuana dispensary that would serve the Augusta and Waterville region. But the nonprofit dispensary operator is still looking for a place to start a dispensary in or near Augusta.
"We remain committed to locating in this area, as it is the service and population center for a significant number of patients," said DeKeuster, who moved to Augusta to start Northeast Patients Group dispensaries in Maine. "The proximity of the Alfond cancer center and the hospital make this area the sensible choice for our patients, as well.
"Wherever we locate, we will work with the city government and our business and residential neighbors to successfully site our dispensary."
DeKeuster said Northeast Patients Group continues to hear regularly from patients in the region, inquiring when a dispensary will open so they can get their medication.
Those include a 70-year-old man dying of cancer who has no place to get medical marijuana.
DeKeuster declined to be more specific in describing where other potential dispensary sites in the area may be.
Matt Nazar, city planner and deputy development director, said any proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary in Augusta would be the subject of at least one Planning Board public hearing.
"It would absolutely need to go to the Planning Board for conditional use approval, at a minimum," Nazar said.
Northeast Patients Group has been awarded state licenses to operate four of Maine's first eight medical marijuana dispensaries, including the lone dispensary in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
DeKeuster said the organization she leads is on track to have dispensaries operating this spring, which she acknowledged is later than they had hoped to open.
However, she said she understands the delay and lawmakers' need to make sure dispensaries are located appropriately.
"The regulations that are in place at the state and local levels are necessary for a number of reasons," she said. "Especially to ensure that dispensaries fit into their communities in a beneficial way, and to ensure that patients have safe access to a variety of medicines that are affordable, consistent and contaminant-free. These are no easy tasks but by following the regulations that are in place we can help guarantee that Maine's dispensary program meets the highest standards of patient care and community responsiveness."
City councilors in Waterville, where Northeast Patients Group also had considered opening a dispensary, voted in August to enact a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.
In June, Augusta city councilors approved zoning rules for medical marijuana dispensaries that limit the location of such facilities to the city's Medical District - an area encompassing the Alfond Center for Cancer Care and proposed home to MaineGeneral's new, $362 million regional hospital in north Augusta.
The 10 Middle Road site, owned by local development firm Harpers II, was proposed to be included in the Medical District. But the Planning Board voted to remove it after neighbors objected to the prospect of a dispensary in what they described as a residential neighborhood.
In November, Harpers withdrew a proposal, submitted to the Planning Board, to change the zoning of the 10 Middle Road site to allow a medical marijuana dispensary. The site is now listed for sale.
DeKeuster has said previously they considered, but rejected, locating a dispensary within the planned new MaineGeneral Medical Center complex but found space there would be too expensive.
She also said it would take too long to build a new building as a dispensary.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: kjonline.com
Author: KEITH EDWARDS
Contact: Contact Us CM | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME
Copyright:2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Website:Pot dispensary operator won't use Middle Road site | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME
Northeast Patients Group Executive Director Becky DeKeuster said the group is no longer considering 10 Middle Road to open a medical marijuana dispensary that would serve the Augusta and Waterville region. But the nonprofit dispensary operator is still looking for a place to start a dispensary in or near Augusta.
"We remain committed to locating in this area, as it is the service and population center for a significant number of patients," said DeKeuster, who moved to Augusta to start Northeast Patients Group dispensaries in Maine. "The proximity of the Alfond cancer center and the hospital make this area the sensible choice for our patients, as well.
"Wherever we locate, we will work with the city government and our business and residential neighbors to successfully site our dispensary."
DeKeuster said Northeast Patients Group continues to hear regularly from patients in the region, inquiring when a dispensary will open so they can get their medication.
Those include a 70-year-old man dying of cancer who has no place to get medical marijuana.
DeKeuster declined to be more specific in describing where other potential dispensary sites in the area may be.
Matt Nazar, city planner and deputy development director, said any proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary in Augusta would be the subject of at least one Planning Board public hearing.
"It would absolutely need to go to the Planning Board for conditional use approval, at a minimum," Nazar said.
Northeast Patients Group has been awarded state licenses to operate four of Maine's first eight medical marijuana dispensaries, including the lone dispensary in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
DeKeuster said the organization she leads is on track to have dispensaries operating this spring, which she acknowledged is later than they had hoped to open.
However, she said she understands the delay and lawmakers' need to make sure dispensaries are located appropriately.
"The regulations that are in place at the state and local levels are necessary for a number of reasons," she said. "Especially to ensure that dispensaries fit into their communities in a beneficial way, and to ensure that patients have safe access to a variety of medicines that are affordable, consistent and contaminant-free. These are no easy tasks but by following the regulations that are in place we can help guarantee that Maine's dispensary program meets the highest standards of patient care and community responsiveness."
City councilors in Waterville, where Northeast Patients Group also had considered opening a dispensary, voted in August to enact a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.
In June, Augusta city councilors approved zoning rules for medical marijuana dispensaries that limit the location of such facilities to the city's Medical District - an area encompassing the Alfond Center for Cancer Care and proposed home to MaineGeneral's new, $362 million regional hospital in north Augusta.
The 10 Middle Road site, owned by local development firm Harpers II, was proposed to be included in the Medical District. But the Planning Board voted to remove it after neighbors objected to the prospect of a dispensary in what they described as a residential neighborhood.
In November, Harpers withdrew a proposal, submitted to the Planning Board, to change the zoning of the 10 Middle Road site to allow a medical marijuana dispensary. The site is now listed for sale.
DeKeuster has said previously they considered, but rejected, locating a dispensary within the planned new MaineGeneral Medical Center complex but found space there would be too expensive.
She also said it would take too long to build a new building as a dispensary.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: kjonline.com
Author: KEITH EDWARDS
Contact: Contact Us CM | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME
Copyright:2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Website:Pot dispensary operator won't use Middle Road site | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME
