Six recreational pot shops to open


Framingham will allow up to six recreational marijuana shops September 26, 2018
Jim Haddadin 617-863-7144 Metrowest Daily News
FRAMINGHAM - As many as six recreational marijuana shops will be allowed to open in the city under new guidelines approved by the City Council.

The measures, adopted Tuesday night, provide local rules for marijuana establishments, eliminating one of the final hurdles facing the industry within the city.

Councilors also voted to create a new marijuana retail overlay district, designating regions along Rte. 9 where adult-use marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to open.

In a late change, councilors removed property near Framingham State University from the list of allowable sites, reasoning dispensaries near the campus could clash with the school's image and mission.

The guidelines - expected to be approved by Mayor Yvonne Spicer - align closely with recommendations from a special city task force, which studied the issue with input from city staff, including the health director and designees from the police department and the mayor's office.

Spicer said she is comfortable with the group's recommendations, which limit to six the number of dispensaries that would be allowed to open in Framingham. They also regulate the time, place and manner in which marijuana establishments can operate.

"I hear and understand those of you who are worried that allowing marijuana retail establishments in Framingham is a mistake," Spicer told the council. "It is believed by some that marijuana is a gateway drug that proceeds the use of other drugs. We are, however, in a time when the law of the commonwealth is the personal use of non-prescription marijuana by persons over the age of 21 is now lawful. This reality requires us to be open to the idea that there may be positive impacts and opportunities."

Framingham residents backed the 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana, voting 54 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. Because a majority of voters supported legalization, setting the cap lower than six - equivalent to one pot shop for every five liquor stores - would require putting another ballot question before local voters.

The city is already home to a handful of businesses in the cannabis industry, including a pair of independent testing laboratories. The city's first medical marijuana dispensary, operated by Temescal Wellness, opened its doors on Sept.13. The company, based in Framingham, operates in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maryland. It has applied to the Cannabis Control Commission to sell adult-use marijuana at its Pittsfield and Hudson dispensaries, and is waiting to negotiate a host community agreement with Framingham before submitting its third application to operate a retail pot dispensary.

In preparing the list of acceptable properties for marijuana retailers, District 6 City Councilor Michael Rossi, who chaired the special marijuana task force, said the group sought to exclude major residential areas, such as Nobscot, Saxonville, as well as downtown.

They also cut properties near Framingham State, reasoning the stretch of Rte. 9 near the campus has proven dangerous for students trying to cross on foot.

Councilors voted 9-3 to strike the area near the FSU campus from the map of acceptable sites. The properties there include busy commercial plazas connected to FSU by a pedestrian footbridge over Rte. 9.

District 3 Councilor Adam Steiner said parking there is already a challenge, and the arrival of pot shops might hamper the city's efforts to strengthen Framingham Centre's image as a historic district.

At-Large Councilors Cheryl Tully Stoll and George King and District 5 Councilor Michael Cannon voted to include the properties in the overlay district. A handful of residents also spoke in favor of keeping the properties near FSU on the list. Some said it would be more dangerous for FSU students to drive to dispensaries in other locations than walk to one nearby.

The council voted 10-1 to accept an amendment by Steiner to allow indoor cultivation of cannabis products on certain agricultural properties recognized as farms. Under the state's definition, farms must remain active, and measure 15 acres or larger.

At most, an indoor cannabis cultivation or production facility could measure about 2 acres, and would be located at least 100 feet from any property line.

"We focus on the challenges, rightly so, about implementation, but I think the marijuana industry can provide some opportunities for us," Steiner said, "and this would be one to give the option ... for our farms, some of which are struggling, to take on this industry in order to give them a financial boost."

Councilors rejected an amendment offered by District 8′s Judy Grove to reduce the number of marijuana retailers from six to two, triggering a mandatory ballot question. They also adopted a plan to review the new overlay district in two years, with a study commencing July 1, 2020, and concluding by Dec. 31, 2020.

The council passed the new general ordinances regulating marijuana establishments by a vote of 10-1, with District 9 Councilor Edgardo Torres opposed.

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