Massachusetts - A proposal to tighten restrictions on where medical marijuana dispensaries can be located in Brookline was soundly rejected by Special Town Meeting voters last week.
Under the town's current zoning laws, the dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of elementary and secondary schools, or inside a building that contains a day-care center. The proposed changes would have also prohibited dispensaries within 500 feet of day-care centers and any facility, such as parks and playgrounds, where children commonly congregate.
With 146 no votes, 60 yes votes, and 10 abstentions, Town Meeting opted Tuesday night for no action on Article 12, ensuring that the wording expanding the buffer zone would not be included in the town's zoning regulations.
Related votes, including on a motion to move Article 12 to a moderator-appointed committee for more study and future consideration, also resulted in no action.
Supporters of the failed measure largely acknowledged that it had no legal teeth to stop a planned dispensary from opening in the former Brookline Savings Bank building at Route 9 and Washington Street, but said they hoped the measure would pass to give a committee time to review concerns about how dispensaries could impact neighborhoods.
"I have the experience of growing up here in Brookline. I know the streets, and I know the neighborhoods," said Gordon Bennett, who submitted the petition article. "Physical proximity matters."
Bennett said he supports medical marijuana but opposes the location of the planned dispensary at the busy intersection.
Dan Saltzman, a Brookline resident, argued that even without the authority to relocate the planned dispensary, Article 12 should pass so that a committee could take its time and further study the zoning.
"Studies show the greater physical distance, the less the impact" on adjacent neighborhoods, Saltzman said.
During the debate, John Doggett, a resident who spoke out against Article 12, used a series of maps and charts to show how the measure could be used to eliminate all potential sites to host a dispensary operation.
There are 89 day-care centers in town, he said, and Article 12's proposed buffer zones would limit dispensaries to sections of Coolidge Corner near shopping and apartment homes, and Chestnut Hill in an already high-traffic area. If just one more day-care center were to open in each of those areas, he said, the expanded buffer requirements would strip the entire town of potential sites.
"No municipality can use zoning to ban or effectively ban" a registered marijuana dispensary, Doggett said, citing a Suffolk Superior Court ruling this year that upheld Attorney General Martha Coakley's prohibition against cities and towns barring medical marijuana operations.
In the end, most Town Meeting members voted with the Board of Selectmen's recommendation to keep the relevant bylaws unchanged.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: The Boston Globe
Author: James H. Burnett III
Contact: https://bostonglobe.custhelp.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTQxNjc3NTgwNS9zaWQvZTlsdzlhOG0=
Website: Brookline Town Meeting rejects larger buffer zone for medical marijuana facilities - West - The Boston Globe
Under the town's current zoning laws, the dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of elementary and secondary schools, or inside a building that contains a day-care center. The proposed changes would have also prohibited dispensaries within 500 feet of day-care centers and any facility, such as parks and playgrounds, where children commonly congregate.
With 146 no votes, 60 yes votes, and 10 abstentions, Town Meeting opted Tuesday night for no action on Article 12, ensuring that the wording expanding the buffer zone would not be included in the town's zoning regulations.
Related votes, including on a motion to move Article 12 to a moderator-appointed committee for more study and future consideration, also resulted in no action.
Supporters of the failed measure largely acknowledged that it had no legal teeth to stop a planned dispensary from opening in the former Brookline Savings Bank building at Route 9 and Washington Street, but said they hoped the measure would pass to give a committee time to review concerns about how dispensaries could impact neighborhoods.
"I have the experience of growing up here in Brookline. I know the streets, and I know the neighborhoods," said Gordon Bennett, who submitted the petition article. "Physical proximity matters."
Bennett said he supports medical marijuana but opposes the location of the planned dispensary at the busy intersection.
Dan Saltzman, a Brookline resident, argued that even without the authority to relocate the planned dispensary, Article 12 should pass so that a committee could take its time and further study the zoning.
"Studies show the greater physical distance, the less the impact" on adjacent neighborhoods, Saltzman said.
During the debate, John Doggett, a resident who spoke out against Article 12, used a series of maps and charts to show how the measure could be used to eliminate all potential sites to host a dispensary operation.
There are 89 day-care centers in town, he said, and Article 12's proposed buffer zones would limit dispensaries to sections of Coolidge Corner near shopping and apartment homes, and Chestnut Hill in an already high-traffic area. If just one more day-care center were to open in each of those areas, he said, the expanded buffer requirements would strip the entire town of potential sites.
"No municipality can use zoning to ban or effectively ban" a registered marijuana dispensary, Doggett said, citing a Suffolk Superior Court ruling this year that upheld Attorney General Martha Coakley's prohibition against cities and towns barring medical marijuana operations.
In the end, most Town Meeting members voted with the Board of Selectmen's recommendation to keep the relevant bylaws unchanged.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: The Boston Globe
Author: James H. Burnett III
Contact: https://bostonglobe.custhelp.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTQxNjc3NTgwNS9zaWQvZTlsdzlhOG0=
Website: Brookline Town Meeting rejects larger buffer zone for medical marijuana facilities - West - The Boston Globe
