Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Marijuana Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
West Newbury votes to prohibit marijuana shops and creates overlay rules if prohibition fails
Summary
Town meeting approved a zoning prohibition on marijuana establishments (subject to a follow-up ballot question) and separately adopted a marijuana overlay district with strict site-plan, buffer, hours, and visibility rules as backup so that, if the ballot fails, any permitted establishment would be tightly regulated.
Select Board and Planning Board members asked town meeting to consider two related actions to address marijuana establishments: (A) a zoning amendment to prohibit all marijuana establishments (to be effective only if voters approve a separate ballot question), and (B) a marijuana overlay district (MOD) that would allow and tightly regulate establishments in the business district by special permit and site-plan review.
Ann Bardin, chair of the Planning Board, described the overlay district language and explained the rationale for proposing both items as a 'belt-and-suspenders' approach: a successful ballot prohibition would forbid all establishments; if voters do not pass the prohibition at the ballot, the MOD would limit where and how a dispensary or medical facility could operate.
Key MOD provisions explained by the planning board included site-plan review to regulate traffic and lighting, limiting establishments to one in town, prohibiting exterior visibility of marijuana or marijuana products, limiting hours of operation, banning on-site consumption, prohibiting the sale of alcohol on the same premises, requiring age restrictions (no one under 21 except accompanied qualifying medical patients), and a 250-foot buffer from licensed preschools and childcare facilities (a stricter local buffer than state rules). The planning board voted unanimously to recommend the MOD at its April 21 public hearing.
Residents raised concerns about potential traffic, parking, bright security lighting, odors from cultivation facilities, and impacts on property values. Supporters of a prohibition argued there is no local need given nearby towns with dispensaries. The meeting approved the zoning prohibition in the first required step (and the moderator confirmed the two-thirds threshold was met for the zoning change); the planning-board-backed overlay district also passed by the required majority as a precaution in case the ballot measure did not succeed.
