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Massachusetts - Medical marijuana dispensaries are free to open across much of the town after special Town Meeting on Wednesday quashed proposed zoning restrictions. Members sent a strong message in voting down a zoning bylaw and a proposed overlay district that planners crafted to limit dispensaries and grow houses to mainly along Rte. 9. Both articles required a two-thirds vote. The bylaw, up for vote first, failed with 53 members in favor and 44 opposed, and made the overlay map moot. Many members spoke out against the regulations during a passionate floor debate, referring to the overwhelming support for last November's state ballot question that legalized the humanitarian medical use of marijuana.
"Ultimately, this is about health care," Precinct 9's Michael Cannon said, urging his fellow voters to not stand between ailing patients and their medicine. "It is not our job." Others argued dispensaries and cultivation centers shouldn't be banished to a certain zone in the same way as adult entertainment businesses. "If this is truly a legitimate business with a legitimate use, it should be treated like any other business," Precinct 9's Dennis Paulsen said.
Without any zoning protections, dispensaries could open anywhere a pharmacy could, and grow houses could go into areas used for agriculture or horticulture, Town Counsel Chris Petrini told Town Meeting. They may also be allowed in other places, including the manufacturing zone and certain residential districts, Petrini and Planning Board Administrator Amanda Loomis said after the meeting. Town Manager Robert Halpin urged Town Meeting to enact the bylaw, which included security measures and other requirements, and to support the proposed overlay district.
From a regional perspective, Halpin said it made sense for a dispensary to be located along Rte. 9 between Framingham Centre and the Natick line, except for in a short gap near Rte. 126, or between the Mass. Pike exit on Cochituate Road and Speen Street. "It is what it is," Halpin said after members voted on the articles, the final two on the special fall Town Meeting warrant. Selectmen will start to consider a dozen proposals of applicants for state licenses, Halpin said. The Department of Public Health says it plans to weigh community support among other criteria when it awards the licenses, up to five per county.
"I think the Board of Selectmen has some latitude here," Halpin said. Framingham resident Doug Kinz urged Town Meeting to reject the regulations, saying he already has signed letters of intent with four applicants who want to operate a cultivation center in his family's commercial building on Hebert Street. The building has been vacant ever since his firm Comfort Air Systems abruptly closed in spring 2012. Leasing out the space could generate about $100,000 in new property taxes, Kinz said. "We're a country of free enterprise," he told Town Meeting. "Why are we restricting it?" Annual Town Meeting took a similar stance in May, rejecting a proposed moratorium to temporarily ban dispensaries so the town could draw up zoning.
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Metrowestdailynews.com
Author: Danielle Ameden
Contact: The MetroWest Daily News Contact Us
Website: Framingham: no restrictions on pot dispensaries - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
"Ultimately, this is about health care," Precinct 9's Michael Cannon said, urging his fellow voters to not stand between ailing patients and their medicine. "It is not our job." Others argued dispensaries and cultivation centers shouldn't be banished to a certain zone in the same way as adult entertainment businesses. "If this is truly a legitimate business with a legitimate use, it should be treated like any other business," Precinct 9's Dennis Paulsen said.
Without any zoning protections, dispensaries could open anywhere a pharmacy could, and grow houses could go into areas used for agriculture or horticulture, Town Counsel Chris Petrini told Town Meeting. They may also be allowed in other places, including the manufacturing zone and certain residential districts, Petrini and Planning Board Administrator Amanda Loomis said after the meeting. Town Manager Robert Halpin urged Town Meeting to enact the bylaw, which included security measures and other requirements, and to support the proposed overlay district.
From a regional perspective, Halpin said it made sense for a dispensary to be located along Rte. 9 between Framingham Centre and the Natick line, except for in a short gap near Rte. 126, or between the Mass. Pike exit on Cochituate Road and Speen Street. "It is what it is," Halpin said after members voted on the articles, the final two on the special fall Town Meeting warrant. Selectmen will start to consider a dozen proposals of applicants for state licenses, Halpin said. The Department of Public Health says it plans to weigh community support among other criteria when it awards the licenses, up to five per county.
"I think the Board of Selectmen has some latitude here," Halpin said. Framingham resident Doug Kinz urged Town Meeting to reject the regulations, saying he already has signed letters of intent with four applicants who want to operate a cultivation center in his family's commercial building on Hebert Street. The building has been vacant ever since his firm Comfort Air Systems abruptly closed in spring 2012. Leasing out the space could generate about $100,000 in new property taxes, Kinz said. "We're a country of free enterprise," he told Town Meeting. "Why are we restricting it?" Annual Town Meeting took a similar stance in May, rejecting a proposed moratorium to temporarily ban dispensaries so the town could draw up zoning.
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Metrowestdailynews.com
Author: Danielle Ameden
Contact: The MetroWest Daily News Contact Us
Website: Framingham: no restrictions on pot dispensaries - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
