Vermont Superior Court Judge Thomas Walsh ruled late last month that Jason Struthers, who has farmed cannabis in his half-acre backyard since 2022, did not violate local zoning laws by cultivating it.[1] The judge held in an October 22 ruling that Struthers’s cannabis growing is a “preexisting nonconformity that may continue” on his property, and that the ordinance violation he received was moot.[1] The case went to a one-day trial in September, and Struthers represented himself.[1] After the ruling, the state Cannabis Control Board renewed his license to grow, but he is still waiting on approval from the city.[1]
In July 2025 the city issued him a new zoning violation under rules adopted earlier that year, which restricted where cannabis could be cultivated and required all plants to be at least 50 feet from adjacent properties.[1] Struthers’s house on Taft Street, a small cul-de-sac close to Essex High School, lay outside the city’s new zoning boundaries, but he had held licences to grow there from the local Cannabis Control Commission since 2022.[1] Struthers appealed the violation locally and then in court, arguing that his operation was legal because it predated the city’s 2025 rules; the city said it issued the violation because it “has followed the directive from the Courts.”[1]
The Vermont Supreme Court had ruled against Struthers in June 2025, holding that municipalities can enforce local zoning laws on both farming and cannabis cultivation.[1] After that ruling he gave up the ducks he had raised next to his crop, which neighbours had complained about for its smell and noise.[1]
Struthers said he had been without a licence to grow for the past year because the city’s local cannabis commission declined to renew it until the dispute was settled in court.[1] City Manager Regina Mahony said councilors plan to review his recent licence application at a November 12 meeting, and Community Development Director Christopher Yuen recommends renewal.[1] Struthers said he thinks the city acted in bad faith and that the ordinances targeted his operation, and expects it is “highly likely” the city will appeal to the Supreme Court again.[1]
