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Brockton is joining the communities across the region considering how to implement the state's new medical marijuana law.
The City Council Ordinance Committee will meet at 6 tonight on three proposed ordinances — filed by Ward 6 City Councilor Michelle DuBois — that would set up new zoning for potential medical marijuana facilities and restrict the drug from public use.
Under the zoning ordinance, drug dispensaries would be restricted to hospital zones in Brockton, while cultivation sites would go in the industrial zone on Oak Hill Way. Creating zoning prevents the sites from opening up anywhere owners may choose, she said.
"In the long run, doing nothing is really to the detriment of the long-term development of the city," DuBois said.
DuBois filed the amendments in January to help the city take a proactive approach as the state prepares for the inevitable arrival of the drug to local cities and towns.
"We have to do something," DuBois said. "There's no sticking our head in the sand about it."
The new law, approved by voters in November, became effective Jan. 1. The state Department of Public Health has until May 1 to write regulations. The department is in charge of issuing registration cards for people who qualify to buy marijuana and to sell it and for allowing dispensaries to open.
The Ordinance Committee will meet at 6 tonight in Council Chamber at City Hall.
Mayor Linda Balzotti said she supports putting the dispensaries near hospitals. She said she has reservations about marijuana arriving legally but she has to confront the issue.
"I have to try to deal with what happened, and that's the fact that the voters of Massachusetts have decided that this is what they want," Balzotti said.
City Solicitor Philip Nessralla will attend the ordinance panel meeting. DuBois said the committee has invited Building Superintendent James Casieri, Building Inspector James Plouffe, and Brockton Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Marc Resnick.
Other cities and towns are also confronting the issue.
In Stoughton, a proposed zoning bylaw to go before town meeting in May would allow medical marijuana treatment and dispensing facilities and cultivation by special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals but would restrict the facilities to one of the town's industrial or highway business areas.
Town meeting in Pembroke last week postponed making a decision on a medical marijuana zoning bylaw after the town's planning board did not issue a recommendation.
In Halifax, voters will decide at a special town meeting on April 8 whether to impose a moratorium on pot shops in town. The moratorium would extend through June 30, 2014.
Taunton and Quincy are among other area communities mulling pot-shop moratoriums or restrictions.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: enterprisenews.com
Author: Alex Bloom
Contact: The Enterprise Contact Us
Website: Brockton to talk about restricting medical marijuana locations - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise
The City Council Ordinance Committee will meet at 6 tonight on three proposed ordinances — filed by Ward 6 City Councilor Michelle DuBois — that would set up new zoning for potential medical marijuana facilities and restrict the drug from public use.
Under the zoning ordinance, drug dispensaries would be restricted to hospital zones in Brockton, while cultivation sites would go in the industrial zone on Oak Hill Way. Creating zoning prevents the sites from opening up anywhere owners may choose, she said.
"In the long run, doing nothing is really to the detriment of the long-term development of the city," DuBois said.
DuBois filed the amendments in January to help the city take a proactive approach as the state prepares for the inevitable arrival of the drug to local cities and towns.
"We have to do something," DuBois said. "There's no sticking our head in the sand about it."
The new law, approved by voters in November, became effective Jan. 1. The state Department of Public Health has until May 1 to write regulations. The department is in charge of issuing registration cards for people who qualify to buy marijuana and to sell it and for allowing dispensaries to open.
The Ordinance Committee will meet at 6 tonight in Council Chamber at City Hall.
Mayor Linda Balzotti said she supports putting the dispensaries near hospitals. She said she has reservations about marijuana arriving legally but she has to confront the issue.
"I have to try to deal with what happened, and that's the fact that the voters of Massachusetts have decided that this is what they want," Balzotti said.
City Solicitor Philip Nessralla will attend the ordinance panel meeting. DuBois said the committee has invited Building Superintendent James Casieri, Building Inspector James Plouffe, and Brockton Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Marc Resnick.
Other cities and towns are also confronting the issue.
In Stoughton, a proposed zoning bylaw to go before town meeting in May would allow medical marijuana treatment and dispensing facilities and cultivation by special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals but would restrict the facilities to one of the town's industrial or highway business areas.
Town meeting in Pembroke last week postponed making a decision on a medical marijuana zoning bylaw after the town's planning board did not issue a recommendation.
In Halifax, voters will decide at a special town meeting on April 8 whether to impose a moratorium on pot shops in town. The moratorium would extend through June 30, 2014.
Taunton and Quincy are among other area communities mulling pot-shop moratoriums or restrictions.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: enterprisenews.com
Author: Alex Bloom
Contact: The Enterprise Contact Us
Website: Brockton to talk about restricting medical marijuana locations - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise
