MILFORD – After making an amendment on the floor of Special Town Meeting Monday, voters opted to essentially allow existing marijuana cultivation and testing facilities to grow recreational marijuana while banning retail shops that sell the drug.

The 171-7 vote comes just over a month after 56.3 percent of voters backed a ban on all recreational marijuana businesses in town in a townwide referendum.

Changes made by Town Meeting voters to that proposal added a footnote to the ban.

It allows medical marijuana testing and cultivation businesses that were licensed to operate prior to July 1, 2017 to continue their operations and expand into the recreational marijuana market.

The measure still prohibits new businesses in those fields from opening in town.

An all-out ban without the amendment have hampered ProVerde Laboratories – which currently tests medical marijuana – and Sage Naturals – which cultivates medical marijuana – from expanding, and could have forced them to leave town, their owners said.

“This would be an unnecessary loss for Milford and a devastating financial blow to our small business that we have worked so hard to achieve,” Sage Naturals CEO Michael Dundas wrote in a letter handed out to voters.

While the Sept. 19 referendum brought out citizens groups on both in favor of and opposed to the ban in force, Donna Niro, chairwoman of Milford Community Against Recreational Marijuana Retail Establishments (CARES), told Town Meeting members she ultimately supported the amendment.

Niro, who called statements by marijuana business owners a scare tactic during last month’s vote, said the amendment would serve the group’s mission to protect families from recreational marijuana while still allowing local businesses to keep their doors open.

It’s a win-win for everyone, she said.

“We have worked very hard to achieve a compromise that benefits everyone in the community.”

Under state laws passed over the summer, towns like Milford that voted in majority to support legalizing recreational use of marijuana last November, were required to hold a referendum should officials seek to ban marijuana businesses.

Monday’s vote was required to amend town zoning bylaws to make a ban official.

Although some said the amendment did not go far enough in favor of marijuana businesses, most who took to the podium during the hour spent discussing the article, voiced support for the motion, first made by Town Meeting member Michelangelo BonTempo.

Speaking on behalf of the owners of ProVerde Laboratories and Sage Naturals, local attorney and resident John Fernandes assured voters neither intends to ever sell marijuana in Milford.

In his letter, Dundas said Sage Naturals wants to build bridges with the community. He proposed a Host Community Agreement to give Milford $250,000 a year to fight the opioid epidemic, support public safety and fund school programs, though no speaker made mention of the proposal on the floor.

Geri Eddins, a member of Milford CARES, said she supports medical marijuana use but has concerns regarding recreational use of the drug and asked voters to move in favor of prohibiting all recreational marijuana businesses.

“It doesn’t belong here,” she said. “We need to keep Milford safe.”

Others said the amendment does not compromise last month’s vote, but rather ensures businesses keep local jobs in town while still ensuring recreational marijuana is not easily accessible to minors in retail stores.

Board of Selectman Chairman William Kingkade and Selectman Bill Buckley, who strongly urged voters back the ban during the referendum campaign, voiced support for the amendment.

“I urge you do not let the emotion get in the way,” Town Meeting member Alberto Correia said. “The testing should be something we want - the more testing the better.”

Niro said it’s possible that Milford may have to complete a second referendum to match the language of the amendment, if the state Attorney General’s Office decides a town wide vote is needed.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at 508 634-7582 or cgavin@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @c_gavinMDN