Cambridge retailers, equity applicants urge caution if city removes 1,800-foot cannabis buffer; many call for license cap

Retail cannabis operators and equity applicants told a Cambridge City Council committee on Thursday that the city's 1,800-foot buffer between cannabis retail stores helped protect early economic empowerment operators but that the rule also complicates owners' ability to sell or raise capital. Several speakers supported removing the buffer only if the city adds a license cap or other protections for existing equity applicants.

The testimony came at an Economic Development and University Relations Committee meeting called to discuss retail cannabis issues in Cambridge. Jonathan Tucker, who said he founded the Boston Garden dispensary in Cambridge, described the local market as "an unforgiving landscape" and said a new store opening 1,800 feet from his location would be "an existential threat" to his business.

"The legal cannabis industry in Cambridge and in Boston has proven to be an unforgiving landscape where even the most well intentioned businesses struggle to survive," Tucker said. "Against this backdrop, the prospect of a new store opening just 1,800 feet from our location is not just a competitive challenge. It's an existential threat to us." (Jonathan Tucker, founder, Boston Garden Dispensary)

Other operators repeated that point while urging protection for equity applicants. Michael…