WATERVILLE — The City Council moved closer Tuesday to granting a license to a marijuana retail shop owner at 68 College Ave., but two more steps are needed.

Frank Berenyi is seeking a license to operate his store, Marijuanaville, and was told by the city earlier this year it would be allowed at the College Avenue location. But the council later voted to create a “safe zone” around the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter at 10 Colby St., and that zone extends to 68 College Ave. The sale of marijuana and other drugs is prohibited in safe zones.

The city sought to find a way to accommodate Berenyi’s request without jeopardizing the purpose of a safe zone. After a long discussion, the council voted 6-1 on Tuesday night to amend the city’s public safety ordinance by adding a new section regarding the adoption of municipal safe zones.

According to the change, when the city plans to create a safe zone in the future, officials will notify neighbors within 400 feet — instead of the current 500 feet — of the zone.

The amendment also eliminates the ability to make exceptions because City Solicitor William A. Lee III advised that making exceptions could be indefensible in court.

Councilor Claude Francke, D-Ward 6, was the lone dissenter, arguing the City Council should not be “tinkering with the size of safe zones.”

“These are the kinds of tinkering that this council loves to do,” Francke said, “and I think it’s better to have a good solid rule in place and stick to it.”

Council Chairman Erik Thomas, D-Ward 7, who moderated the meeting in the absence of Mayor Jay Coelho, said councilors are elected to modify ordinances, and the city’s marijuana study committee designated the 500-foot rule a reasonable distance.

“We created this ordinance to begin with, so it’s certainly in our purview to change it if I want, if we want,” Thomas said.

Councilor Rebecca Greene, D-Ward 3, said the council might want to reduce the distance from 500 to 400 feet in the marijuana ordinance, but she did not think councilors should do it to grant a license to someone. Instead, Greene said, councilors should do it because they think 400 feet is adequate protection.

“I am in favor of adopting the amendment to this ordinance and making an exception, in this case, to give a license to the individual who kind of got caught in the gap of information and timing of this ordinance,” she said.

Councilors then voted 5-2 to amend the marijuana ordinance to reduce the area where marijuana business licenses are prohibited from 500 feet to 400 feet from the property line of a municipal safe zone. Francke and Greene opposed the amendment. The council must take a second vote for it to be finalized.

The council followed with a 7-0 vote to table until its next meeting Oct. 5 the request to grant a marijuana retail license to Berenyi, after councilors have taken the second vote.

In other matters, City Manager Steve Daly reported seven Parks and Recreation Department employees were in quarantine because one had tested positive for COVID-19.

“They are not vaccinated, so they’re quarantining,” he said.

Francke said it would behoove city leaders to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“It’s free and it helps save everyone,” he said. “The more people that get vaccinated, the quicker we can get back to business as usual.”

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