By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER—Three-quarters of Dover’s marijuana pie, the cultivation, manufacturing, and testing aspects, could be coming earlier than retail if they are allowed to come at all.

The topics were discussed at a special legislative, finance, and administration meeting on Monday.

At the meeting, representatives from the Rossi Group, the consulting firm working out how exactly to handle Dover’s marijuana retail, cultivation, and testing business policies, prepared another presentation to describe where exactly in the process the city is.

The state is set to begin distributing business licenses for marijuana testing and cultivation in the November-December time period, and as senior project manager Ann Marie Townshend explained, that means that the city must get the ball rolling soon.

“From the time something comes out of committee to the time it is adopted and into ordinances, is a four-month process. So, that’s why we brought forth the idea of the moratorium. That’s why we do feel some sense of urgency in terms of time frame,” said Ms. Townshend.

The moratorium she is referring to, adopted in July, stops applications for marijuana businesses in the city through the end of the year, making Dec. 31 City Council’s deadline. Ms. Townshend noted that beginning the ordinance process soon could see it implemented by November.

Proposed ordinances at the meeting introduced definitions for compassion centers (which must be non-profit), marijuana retail facilities, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities. The definitions for these are based on state definitions. Another also designated cultivation, manufacturing, and testing as permitted uses under the ‘M’ Manufacturing Zone.

Some of the discussion on these manufacturing zone uses went to their impact on the city’s electricity grid and water system, and whether the increase in revenue that those utilities generate could outweigh the stress they would put on their respective systems. City Manager Dave Hugg said that these effects, specifically on the water system, could be massive.

“It’s always a trade-off when you’re doing economic development because a heavy water user puts a burden on your system that may make it difficult to facilitate services to other users, whether they’re manufacturing or not,” said Mr. Hugg. “You know, electric we got the same issue. The grid is stressed. We’re rapidly pushing up against the point where somebody on the peninsula is going to have to add some new baseload, basically generation, whether it’s us or somebody else.”

Some council members voiced concerns about air purification requirements, which were purposely left vague to allow for the implementation of future technological innovations into manufacturing facilities without amending the ordinance in the future.

Council President David Anderson also brought up the possibility of lowering the proposed 500-foot minimum distance requirement from things like schools and residential zones that manufacturing and cultivation have to the proposed 250-foot minimum distance that retail is proposed to get, arguing it’s a matter of public health, making sure that the product coming into Dover is what it claims to be.

The council took no action at the meeting, and it is unknown when the ordinance will appear before the council proper.