NORRIDGEWOCK — The Planning Board on Thursday signed off on the conversion of a former chicken barn into a medical marijuana growing facility, following three meetings of debate over the proposal since July.  

The board, in issuing its final decision, set several conditions to be met for the town to issue a permit for the project at 482 Waterville Road.

Even with the additional requirements, the vote was still a narrow 3-2 with Chair Jean Lancaster, Vice Chair Chuck Farrand and Andy Leavitt in favor, and John Ames and Bruce Obert opposed.

The project is on property owned by M&M1388, LLC, which is registered to 667 Waterville Road in Skowhegan. The deed for the parcel with the chicken barn lists an address for the corporation in Missouri City, Texas.

Application materials and state business records name the owner of the LLC and the property as Yan Qiang Mei.

Those behind the Norridgewock project are also working on a Skowhegan project. Mei was listed as the owner there, too, when the project application earlier this year was initially rejected by town staff and then later approved by the Skowhegan Planning Board.

Assisting with both the Skowhegan and Norridgewock projects, and representing the business at planning board meetings, were consultants Albert Kang and Suzhu Mei, who are married. Kang, who also goes by Cheehaut Kang, said the property owner is his wife’s brother.

Kang runs a business with his wife advising clients on how to comply with state and local cannabis growing regulations, he explained in a lengthy interview with the Morning Sentinel in 2025.

Their business, he said then, was sparked as “mom and pop” marijuana growers of Chinese descent in Maine grew fearful amid a law enforcement crackdown on illegal grow houses, many in Somerset County, that began in early 2024 and continued into 2025.

Many of the busts at the rural properties resulted in arrests of people of Asian descent. Federal prosecutors have pointed to a possible link to Chinese organized crime, although enforcement and prosecutions appear to have slowed recently.

Meanwhile, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy confirmed in late 2024 that more than 120 previously illicit grows had entered the state’s licensed medical caregiver program.

The Norridgewock Planning Board approved M&M1388’s plan to convert a three-story, 220-by- 42-foot barn into a medical marijuana cultivation facility, with an existing residence retained for employee housing, the application says.

Kang said in a telephone call Friday that the facility will be operated by tenants licensed by the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy. He declined to say how many.

The board first discussed the application in July, but tabled a vote then and again in August, after discussing concerns such as odor, air pollution and the available water supply.

Kang said the process in Norridgewock, although lengthy, was fair, and he was pleased with the outcome. That was not the case, he said, during the site plan review process for the Skowhegan grow house.

“We are quite happy with the town,” Kang said of Norridgewock. “They are very professional.”

The board’s decision includes a list of conditions, running more than three single-spaced pages of text, that cover how materials and equipment needed for growing cannabis must be stored or disposed of detailed in a waste management plan and disposal contract. Other requirements are:

• M&M1388 must drill a new well and get a statement from the well driller that, among other things, says whether it is sufficient for the facility’s operations and whether the project will impact groundwater on neighboring properties.

• The business must supply the town with detailed information about its odor control and carbon filtration systems.

• The business must provide the town fire department with a key lockbox to access the facility in an emergency and emergency shutoffs for electricity. It also must conduct a comprehensive walkthrough with fire officials before opening and provide an ongoing inventory of hazardous materials and chemicals.

• And the business must provide the town with a list of all of its owners and designate someone to be responsible for regulatory compliance, emergency response, property maintenance and enforcement matters.

Following the vote, Town Manager Richard LaBelle said that M&M1388 has to complete some items to comply with the conditions before Matt Everett, the town code enforcement officer, issues a permit.

“There are still some gaps,” LaBelle said, warning Kang and Mei not to start work until everything is finalized.