A medical marijuana growing operation in a rural Bucksport duplex received a conditional after-the-fact business license Tuesday from the town’s Planning Board in a divided vote.

Bucksport got confirmation of the operation in the Route 46 home last year, when the state sent notification to town officials that Guo Xin Chen had renewed state registration to grow for Maine’s medical market — without the necessary municipal license.

Bucksport’s town code requires any cannabis establishment to be licensed like other businesses. This help provides site information to first responders; another unlicensed local house used to grow marijuana was destroyed in a fire in 2022.

Officials previously said they suspected for years that the Route 46 property was used to grow marijuana, but did not have a basis to pursue it until learning of the state registration. They believed the state approval being granted without local approval highlighted weaknesses in the state’s more loosely regulated medical market. To get caregiver registration, applicants have to say they are in compliance with local requirements.

Chen’s caregiver registration with the state was first approved in September 2024, according to Alexis Soucy, director of media and stakeholder relations for the state’s Office of Cannabis Policy. The office regulates lawful cannabis businesses but doesn’t investigate or prosecute criminal activity, she said.

State law changes in 2024 made more information public about participants in the medical cannabis program, letting the office tell municipalities about local operations for the first time, according to Soucy, who said her office advocated for those changes.

In October 2025, following local feedback, the agency started notifying municipalities when it received a caregiver application or request for renewal, not just when the registration was approved, she said. Towns aren’t required to notify the office of local licensing requirements.

On Tuesday, Bucksport’s Planning Board members voted 4-1 to approve it with little discussion, adding conditions that a plumbing backflow prevention system must be installed and security cameras set up to notify police of break-ins or other issues. Jay Durost voted against it without giving a reason.

Those two lingering requirements are for the health of the owners, but aren’t a risk to the public while unresolved, Bucksport Code Enforcement Officer Luke Chiavelli said. In April, the board asked the applicants to work on odor control; a neighbor at that meeting said he had noticed strong marijuana smells off and on for years.

The growers have since installed four to five air exchangers in each room, according to Garrett Lower, a consultant who has spoken at meetings on behalf of the operators. The carbon exchange filters must be changed every 30 days.

Chiavelli said he has since stopped by the house unannounced repeatedly without noticing a smell, and hasn’t heard further complaints from neighbors. An inspection found they had addressed a list of issues from an earlier visit.  

He also noted Tuesday that mold appeared in a breezeway-like structure connecting the halves of the duplex. It wasn’t in a growing room, doesn’t affect the product and is outside the scope of the license requirements, he said. Lower told the board he was working with the applicants to control it.