SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — A Superior Court judge has ruled that the South Kingstown Zoning Board used "tortured reasoning" in finding that a medical marijuana grow operation is not allowed in downtown Wakefield.

Judge Bennett Gallo ruled that the board was wrong to conclude that Jordan Carlson's licensed grow operation constituted "agricultural products manufacturing" and as such was not allowed in the Commercial Downtown Zoning District. Gallo called the board's finding that growing marijuana amounted to manufacturing "an exercise in tortured reasoning" that ignores the plain meaning of the zoning ordinance.

According to the ruling, town Building Official and Zoning Enforcement Officer Jeffrey O'Hara issued Carlson a notice of violation in April 2014. The violation was based on police reports generated after the South Kingstown Fire Department responded to an alarm at 17 Columbia St., a former movie theater that Carlson rented from Campus Cinema LLC.

O'Hara wrote that he had learned there was agricultural manufacturing on the property that was prohibited under the zoning ordinance.

Carlson appealed to the Zoning Board, which held a hearing in July 2014. At that hearing, O'Hara acknowledged that he relied "solely" on the police reports and had not entered the building. He based his conclusion on the end product he believed Carlson was producing, the ruling says.

A neighbor also testified about a "smoky" scent coming from the former cinema when the wind blew in a certain direction, the ruling says.

The Zoning Board upheld O'Hara's notice of violation, 3-2, in a written decision that was entered into the land evidence records. The board found that "marijuana cultivation taking place on the premises constitutes agricultural manufacturing and thus was barred in the downtown district."

The board wrote that some type of processing is necessary to "render usable marijuana from a marijuana plant." It compared marijuana production to canning tomatoes, finding that "large-scale processing of marijuana was taking place" at 17 Columbia St.

Gallo noted that "in fact, plant agriculture is permitted in all zones in Rhode Island," under the state enabling act. He also noted that the state Medical Marijuana Act defined usable marijuana as the dried leaves and flowers of a marijuana plant or any mixture thereof.

"Manufacturing entails more than simply drying out plants," Gallo wrote. "If an individual grows some plants then harvests those plants and dries then, that individual has not manufactured anything."

Gallo found that there was no evidence in the record that anything beyond growing was taking place.

O'Hara said he respected the judge's ruling.

“They're making these laws faster than anyone can read them," he said, adding "I can't understand it."

He said Carlson has since used the building for occasional shows.