The head of the Warren Town Council said he has questions over whether legalizing the growing of medical marijuana within the town’s borders will help the town financially, and whether an ordinance change that would make it happen is worth it. The council is expected to consider that ordinance Thursday evening in a 7 p.m. meeting at town hall.

Though he said he hasn’t yet made up his mind on the matter, council President Joseph DePasquale said he has questions about the ordinance, which would allow the commercial growing of medical marijuana in many of Warren’s areas:

“If there’s a financial incentive, you court it,” he said Monday. “But for me to look at something like this, what’s going to be the benefit?

Specifically, he said prospective growing operations may not have enough value in tangible real estate assets (such as growing equipment) that the town could tax. He said he asked the town’s treasurer, Christopher Leadem, to look into the matter, and his report seems to indicate that the tax benefits are “not there.”

“In no way am I looking at the use and aspects of marijuana as medicine as detrimental to the town,” Mr. DePasquale said. “I’m just looking for something that would benefit Warren from being here.”

Another issue, he said, are state prohibitions on where such growing facilities can be placed. State law dictates that operations must have 1,000 foot buffers from schools. When town officials started looking into the proposed ordinance change more than a year ago, he said he was not aware — and has not been aware until very recently — that that prohibition also extends to day care facilities. That it does, he said, excludes several areas of town that otherwise would have qualified. The area surrounding the Parker Mill is a good example, he said: While the mill certainly has the space to locate a growing operation, it lies too close to a day care facility.

Initially “I was feeling like there were possibly a couple of spots that may have been able to” work, he said. “But looking into perimeters from schools it’s almost becoming not possible.

The ordinance change was prompted by requests from medical marijuana advocate Patrick Rimoshytus, who formerly owned a medical marijuana advocacy firm on Metacom Avenue and has championed a revision of Warren’s laws to accommodate regulated growing here.