LIVERMORE FALLS — The Board of Appeals voted 3-1 Wednesday evening to rescind the Select Board’s decision not to renew two medical marijuana licenses.

Chair Ernie Souther, Kristine Cyr and Jimi Ferrari voted to renew the licenses while Patty Henges was opposed.

Selectmen at their Aug. 6 meeting voted 3-2 not to renew the licenses for Dana Cummings‘ DEAT medical marijuana retail store and cultivation facility doing business as Sugar Kush USA. The retail store is on Pleasant Street and the cultivation facility is behind it in the old Primary School building he owns on Baldwin Street. Chair William Kenniston and Selectman Jeffrey Bryant were in favor of renewing the licenses while Selectmen Jim Long, John Barbioni and Bruce Peary were opposed.

Souther said he had watched the Mt. Blue Community Access TV livestream of the Aug. 6 meeting, but couldn’t tell why the licenses were denied.

There was an issue with the paperwork, Cummings said via Zoom. The application listed hours of operation as nine to nine, the hours of operation a dispensary can be open according to the ordinance, he noted.

Those hours were used on the initial application but never followed, Cummings said. By using the longer time frame, if the hours had to be changed the owner wouldn’t need to get permission to change them, he added.

Souther spoke of an issue noted when code enforcement wasn’t able to tour the retail store.

“Not to my knowledge,” Cummings replied. “The code enforcement officer was well aware that I had to close down my dispensary because of an employee.” In his appeal, Cummings noted he is negotiating to make sure that doesn’t happen again, and that he would hire reliable people who would be vetted by code enforcement.

One reason the Select Board did not renew the licenses was because he wasn’t at the meeting, Cummings said. He splits his time between Maine and California due to custody arrangements for his children. Those who needed to sign off on the renewals had done so, and he would have changed his schedule to be at the meeting if he had known there were concerns, he noted.

There is nothing in the ordinance stating a business owner has to live in town, Souther said. “Denying a license because the store isn’t open, denying a license because somebody doesn’t live in a community, I don’t think that’s right,” he added.

“I got taken advantage of, put too much trust in one person,” Cummings stated. “I am trying to do everything I can to make this work.”

As soon as he heard of the licenses revocation, Cummings checked with the state. He was told the state still considered him licensed, and he has been growing marijuana since August.

Ferrari asked Long — who was at the meeting — if he still needed a site visit.

Long said he couldn’t speak for other selectmen, but he had questions in August that couldn’t be answered and no one was there who could. When Ferrari asked if he would change his mind, Long answered yes.

Town Manager Carrie Castonguay said one license expired July 14, the other on Oct. 4. Cummings clarified the grow license expired in July, the state told him he could continue growing as it was going through renewal.

Souther questioned two expiration dates with only one application.

Cummings said he asked if the two licenses could be together using the same date, and was told they had to be on the original dates.

With both now expired, if the licenses were approved the dates would be the same, Souther noted. With answers to Long’s issues there is no reason why the licenses can’t be approved, he added.