Green Truck Farms gets license for Kittery's second marijuana shop

KITTERY, Maine — Town leaders have approved a second retail marijuana store, two years after beginning the process to allow pot shops.

Green Truck Farms, founded in North Berwick eight years ago by Joshua Seymour, received the town’s second retail marijuana business license from the Town Council on Wednesday. The inaugural license was issued to the co-owner and co-founder of Theory Wellness in August 2022, which opened at the outlet malls.

Joshua Seymour has been on a roller-coaster ride while working toward opening a marijuana retail store in Kittery.
Joshua Seymour has been on a roller-coaster ride while working toward opening a marijuana retail store in Kittery.

The license marks the end of a winding journey for Seymour to open a cannabis shop in Kittery. Toward the end of 2020, Seymour compiled 1,300-plus signatures over two petitions that he filed with the town, calling on Kittery to allow adult-use cannabis shops in town. Earlier that year, the state began adult-use marijuana sales statewide after Maine voters legalized recreational pot use in the November 2016 election.

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Kittery Planning Board members previously gave Seymour, a Kittery resident, the green light with land-use approvals in mid-September to convert his existing 89 Route 236 commercial unit to a recreational cannabis shop. The retail space, neighbors with an Aroma Joe’s location, was formerly used by Green Truck Farms as a cannabidiol (CBD) boutique.

“The Planning Board approved this. They’ve gone through all the steps and hoops, so I think it’s incumbent on us to approve it,” Town Council chairperson Judy Spiller said Wednesday.

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Seymour was present for the council’s vote at Town Hall on Wednesday. He previously noted he hopes for the business to be open by spring 2024 and plans to sell products including cannabis flower, concentrates, vapes, edibles, drinks, CBD and medicinal products.

The Green Trucks Farm founder initially was not selected in the town’s October 2021 license lottery, but one of his lottery applications on the waitlist for the Commercial 2 zone license was next in line after the original applicant rescinded his application.

The Town Council unanimously approved issuing Seymour the business license in a 5-0 vote on Wednesday night. Town Council members Cyrus Clark and Mary Gibbons Stevens were not present.

Green Truck Farms is working to open another adult-use cannabis production and retail location in Sanford later this year, Seymour said previously.

From January through September, according to the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, retail adult-use marijuana transactions across the state have totaled almost $161 million in sales. In September alone, Maine recreational pot sales hit over $20.3 million, averaging $7.71 per gram of marijuana, the Office of Cannabis Policy reported.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery ME grants second marijuana shop license to Green Truck Farms