The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously denied a neighbor’s appeal of a building permit issued to a medical marijuana caregiver operation at 161 Ogunquit Road, determining that the town code enforcement officer had not issued it incorrectly.
Steve Bayse of 160 Ogunquit Road had asked the board to revoke the permit for Nature’s Miracle owned by Eric Bergendahl on the basis of four points he detailed at the Feb. 26 hearing. The four-member board, Code Enforcement Officer Jeni McCabe, and two attorneys for the town discussed each item at length before voting to deny each objection.
Bayse said the “meat of the issue” is that the permit allowed a significant expansion of a non-conforming use of property in the R5 residential zone, including a 600% expansion of a building destroyed by fire in 2022, which the new building replaced. Citing a town ordinance limiting a cannabis caregiver home occupation to no more than 700 square feet for one licensed caregiver, he questioned the intended use of the 4,700 square-foot structure.
Further, Bayse said, the permit allowed a 632-square-foot accessory dwelling unit that Bergendahl had not even requested on property that already had two ADUs; the permit application was incomplete and “purposely left off the words marijuana or cannabis”; and that the operation’s use does not comply with town ordinances governing licensed medical marijuana caregivers in that zone.
While members of the board agreed there were some “holes” in Bergendahl’s permit application, they did not think the omissions were sufficient to affect the permit’s validity. Sam Flinkstrom, a newly appointed member of the board, suggested the town’s inspection process would ensure that only 700 square feet of the structure are used for the cannabis business.
Bayse, who told the board he was “not disappointed” with its vote, commented afterward that he appreciated McCabe’s verbal commitment to bring Bergendahl into compliance with the town’s performance standards and local licensing requirements adopted last year for registered caregivers. Bayse also cited his and his neighbors’ “productive meetings” with Town Manager Tim Pellerin regarding the operation and licensing of the medical cannabis retail store on the property, which he said is open daily until midnight.
