An application before the town planning and zoning commission is requesting that the town amend it’s zoning regulations to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.
The application, filed last month by Rino Mozzicato of RM Realty LLC, seeks to allow dispensaries in the town center, which runs along the Silas Deane Highway from Church Street to Wells Road.
According to the application, the amendment would only allow medical marijuana dispensaries in town that are permitted by the state, and would require them to be located more than 1,000 feet from schools and churches.
The proposed amendment also would require applicants to submit floor plans, a security plan and architectural renderings.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Mozzicato declined to comment.
The application comes as the state Department of Consumer Protection plans to award licenses for at least three and as many as 10 new medical marijuana facilities to keep up with demand by the state’s growing number of medical marijuana patients. As of early February, 23,000 people statewide, including about 5,800 in Hartford County, were registered with the program.
In 2014, a proposal by a Rocky Hill pharmaceutical company for a medical marijuana dispensary at 125 Silas Deane Highway was rejected after opponents argued it would change the character of the town and attract more crime.
Opponents also argued that with a dispensary in Hartford and South Windsor, there was no need for one in Wethersfield.
Connecticut currently has nine dispensaries in Hartford, Milford, Branford, Waterbury, Bethel, South Windsor, Milford, Uncasville and Bristol. There are 807 physicians in the state registered to certify qualifying patients.
To qualify for medical marijuana, patients need to be suffering from one of 22 medical conditions including cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
A public hearing on the proposal is planned for March 6.
