Pubdate: Thu, 31 May 2001 Source: Portland Press Herald (ME) Copyright: 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.portland.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/744 Author: Joshua L. Weinstein, Portland Press Herald Writer POWNAL BOARD SAYS NO TO MARIJUANA CONCERTS Selectmen in Pownal just said no to the Maine Vocals, a group that believes marijuana should be legal for recreational as well as medicinal purposes. Late Tuesday night, the town's three selectmen told the group it cannot hold two concerts this summer. "It's a very serious issue," said Sue Mack, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen. "They were expecting 3,000 or 4,000 people, and that impact on this little town was pretty major." About 1,300 people live in Pownal. Mack said selectmen decided that the Vocals' application for a permit did not meet the requirements of the town's mass gathering ordinance. "It's not a permitted use in a rural district," she said, "and the parking lot that they would have to do would require site plan review." There were other problems as well, she said. Things to do with drinking water and other facilities. William Lee, a lawyer who represents Don Christen, who heads Maine Vocals, said he had not spoken with his client Wednesday and did not know whether he planned to appeal. But he said that what the selectmen considered an application wasn't an application in the traditional sense. In fact, he said, Christen didn't submit it. The board, he said, "had some papers that had been given to them apparently by a relative of the property owner" of the land where Christen had hoped to hold the Cumberland County Hemp Festival. "According to Don, these were notes that he had made to give the property owner, to explain what it was he was doing, Lee said. Lee said Christen tried to put together a more formal application, but Memorial Day hampered his efforts. And, Lee said, "at the end of this very, very long hearing, the question came up as to whether or not this type of activity was even allowed in that area from a zoning standpoint." He said he has to review the town's zoning ordinance before he can determine whether that is the case. If it is, however, that's the end of it. "If such a use there is prohibited, then mass gathering is not even an issue," he said. "You don't get there." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart