The Metrowest Daily News reports that the Board of Health and several residents voiced opposition to a proposed medical marijuana zoning bylaw.
Recently, the Planning Board proposed that medical marijuana dispensaries be restricted to Southborough’s commercial zone. At the urging of selectmen*, the board added the bylaw revision to the warrant for October’s Special Town Meeting.
Last night’s Planning Board meeting included a Public Hearing on their proposal. MWDN reports:
Several residents, including the Board of Health chairman, spoke Monday against a proposed bylaw that would restrict medical marijuana dispensaries to the same zone in town reserved for “adult” uses. . . two relatively small areas off Rte. 9 near the Westborough line.
“To me, this pretty much excludes medical marijuana from our town,” [Chairman Louis Fazen III] said, something he believes would not sit well with the attorney general’s office, which needs to approve each bylaw. Additionally, he said residents have voiced support for such dispensaries, noting that 61 percent of voters supported medical marijuana last November at the polls.
Fazen said the proposed locations would be too far away from police.
The Board of Health recommended that the Planning Board do more “due diligence” on the bylaw and bring it to the annual Town Meeting in April.
For the full MWDN story, click here.
Public Hearings are scheduled to continue at the September 30th Planning Board meeting. So if you have an opinion, you can weigh in then.
[*At the 8/13/13 Board of Selectmen meeting, Chair Bill Boland urged the Planning Board to include a bylaw on the topic for the Town Warrant. At that meeting, he did not specify what the zoning restrictions should be. But he expressed concern for the need to get in front of the issue by specifying the zoning before a dispensary is proposed in Southborough.]
