Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Town Meeting will begin voting on many proposed warrant articles starting on April 24, but a medical marijuana buffer zone will not be one of them.
The Arlington Redevelopment Board on Monday, March 20 voted no action on the proposed warrant article, eliminating the opportunity for Town Meeting to have a say on the matter.
The article would have prohibited medical marijuana facilities within a radius of five hundred feet of athletic playing fields where organized or permitted events take place, licensed childcare programs, licensed residential care programs and public and private schools.
Karen Thomas-Alyea submitted the warrant article, and eventually teamed up with the Board of Health to revise its language.
Too Restrictive
The ARB needed to endorse the article to send it to Town Meeting because the lawyer for the town's first incoming medical marijuana facility slated for Water Street had proposed a similar warrant article at a special Town Meeting in October. Town Meeting voted no action on that measure.
ARB members thought Thomas-Alyea's proposed buffer zone would be too restrictive, leaving the town vulnerable to legal action. They also thought it defied the will of residents, the majority of which voted to legalize medical marijuana.
"This is a warrant article about eliminating medical marijuana from the town of Arlington, not about the location of allowing marijuana facilities," said ARB member Andrew West. "You have basically ruled them out. This is a de facto elimination."
West referred to the fact that the buffer zones created from the proposed article would have left very few spaces in town that still allowed a medical facility.
Town Counsel Doug Heim in a memo to the ARB stated that such restrictive zoning could result in legal action from the state, or future medical facilities attempting to come into town.
The reaction from the ARB left Thomas-Alyea, a harsh critic of the Water Street facility, furious.
"If there is no buffer zone in place, then we are going to be in same place we are in now," said Thomas-Alyea, who said another medical marijuana facility could come into town and end up next to a school similar to the one slated for Water Street. "I have yet to meet a single parent who is aware of what is going on."
Thomas-Alyea's proposed article is based on a buffer zone concept originally applied by the state that has been heavily debated since Massachusetts Patient Foundation, Inc. first proposed the Water Street facility.
When the Water Street facility was in the process of getting its special permit, the state's Department of Public Health told the town there would be a state-applied, 500-foot default buffer zone.
But when the town zoned a few districts in Arlington for medical marijuana facilities by special permit, DPU would eventually rule — unknown to the town at that time — that those actions removed the default buffer zone.
ARB acknowledges concerns
The ARB's decision to vote no action on the proposed article also went over objections from police.
Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan testified at a prior ARB meeting that he wholeheartedly supports a buffer zone.
He expressed concerns about the Water Street facility potentially being a target for robbery, given the amount of cash it could have on the premises at any one time. He also said it could increase the chance of marijuana falling into the wrong hands.
"The Police Department is concerned about the impact on the quality of life in and around dispensaries," said Ryan.
But ARB Chairman Andrew Bunnell said he did not think a buffer zone would solve these underlying problems. He added that there is a very strong review process in place before a medical facility can receive a special permit.
Although the ARB voted no action on the article, they did agree to create a study group to examine ways to address public safety concerns.
"Based on what I've heard, I think it's clear something needs to be done," said Bunnell.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Bram Berkowitz
Contact: 781-674-7726
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Wicked Local Arlington
The Arlington Redevelopment Board on Monday, March 20 voted no action on the proposed warrant article, eliminating the opportunity for Town Meeting to have a say on the matter.
The article would have prohibited medical marijuana facilities within a radius of five hundred feet of athletic playing fields where organized or permitted events take place, licensed childcare programs, licensed residential care programs and public and private schools.
Karen Thomas-Alyea submitted the warrant article, and eventually teamed up with the Board of Health to revise its language.
Too Restrictive
The ARB needed to endorse the article to send it to Town Meeting because the lawyer for the town's first incoming medical marijuana facility slated for Water Street had proposed a similar warrant article at a special Town Meeting in October. Town Meeting voted no action on that measure.
ARB members thought Thomas-Alyea's proposed buffer zone would be too restrictive, leaving the town vulnerable to legal action. They also thought it defied the will of residents, the majority of which voted to legalize medical marijuana.
"This is a warrant article about eliminating medical marijuana from the town of Arlington, not about the location of allowing marijuana facilities," said ARB member Andrew West. "You have basically ruled them out. This is a de facto elimination."
West referred to the fact that the buffer zones created from the proposed article would have left very few spaces in town that still allowed a medical facility.
Town Counsel Doug Heim in a memo to the ARB stated that such restrictive zoning could result in legal action from the state, or future medical facilities attempting to come into town.
The reaction from the ARB left Thomas-Alyea, a harsh critic of the Water Street facility, furious.
"If there is no buffer zone in place, then we are going to be in same place we are in now," said Thomas-Alyea, who said another medical marijuana facility could come into town and end up next to a school similar to the one slated for Water Street. "I have yet to meet a single parent who is aware of what is going on."
Thomas-Alyea's proposed article is based on a buffer zone concept originally applied by the state that has been heavily debated since Massachusetts Patient Foundation, Inc. first proposed the Water Street facility.
When the Water Street facility was in the process of getting its special permit, the state's Department of Public Health told the town there would be a state-applied, 500-foot default buffer zone.
But when the town zoned a few districts in Arlington for medical marijuana facilities by special permit, DPU would eventually rule — unknown to the town at that time — that those actions removed the default buffer zone.
ARB acknowledges concerns
The ARB's decision to vote no action on the proposed article also went over objections from police.
Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan testified at a prior ARB meeting that he wholeheartedly supports a buffer zone.
He expressed concerns about the Water Street facility potentially being a target for robbery, given the amount of cash it could have on the premises at any one time. He also said it could increase the chance of marijuana falling into the wrong hands.
"The Police Department is concerned about the impact on the quality of life in and around dispensaries," said Ryan.
But ARB Chairman Andrew Bunnell said he did not think a buffer zone would solve these underlying problems. He added that there is a very strong review process in place before a medical facility can receive a special permit.
Although the ARB voted no action on the article, they did agree to create a study group to examine ways to address public safety concerns.
"Based on what I've heard, I think it's clear something needs to be done," said Bunnell.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Bram Berkowitz
Contact: 781-674-7726
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Wicked Local Arlington
