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Date: 9/14/2023
SOUTHWICK — The Planning Board scheduled public hearings last week to start the process of changing the town’s zoning bylaws to allow the sale of recreational marijuana in town.
“The public hearing is the next logical step for the Planning Board to take after the town’s approval of Article 17 at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting,” Town Planner Jon Goddard wrote to the board requesting public hearings that will start at 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19 in the Land Use Room of Town Hall, 454 College Hwy., Southwick.
The warrant article Goddard is referring to asked voters to amend the town’s bylaws to allow recreational marijuana sales in town. It passed overwhelmingly 223-92.
But voters must still approve amending the town’s zoning bylaws.
Since Select Board member Jason Perron proposed the article, he has suggested that the current language of the zoning bylaw, which says, “Non-medical marijuana retailers shall be prohibited within the town of Southwick,” be amended by changing “prohibited” to “allowed.”
However, in the amending language proposed by the Planning Board, instead of “allowed” it uses “permitted,” which, according to Goddard, means the Planning Board must issue any recreational marijuana retailer a permit to open, like it does with nearly all the businesses that open in town.
“This gives [the board] a little better control of the proposed uses [in retail areas],” he said.
Before the board scheduled the public hearings, Select Board Chair Doug Moglin said during the Aug. 28 meeting of the Select Board that the Planning Board was “hesitant” to start the public hearings because of the uncertainty of whether there will be a Special Town Meeting called in late fall or early winter.
According to state law, Planning Board public hearings that involve amending zoning bylaws must close within six months of a Town Meeting.
“[We’ll] need to know if there is going to a Special Town Meeting before [we] close it,” Goddard said.
Last week, Perron said it was still his intention to call for a Special Town Meeting.
However, when Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart was asked at the Aug. 28 Select Board meeting how many articles are there currently that need voter approval, he said, “maybe one.”
Perron pointed to the Special Town Meeting held last November where there were two articles on the warrant — one to authorize a municipal light plant and the other was to approve a tax-increment financing incentive for Whalley Computer Associates.
“We called a special then for only two articles,” Perron said.
The Planning Board is also holding the public hearings to amend where recreational marijuana retailers might be located in town.
The current zoning bylaw says, “Off-site marijuana dispensaries may be permitted in the Off-site Marijuana Dispensary District.”
Perron said last week that he would be open to exploring having the dispensaries allowed to open in retail shopping areas while following the standard guidelines of having them at least 500 feet away from daycares and K-12 schools.
About amending the marijuana overlay district to include retail areas, Goddard said: “It might be appropriate to consider it.”
He said when the overlay map was adopted in 2018, the first dispensaries in the state were just beginning to open and there were complaints by residents of snarled traffic, which were followed by news reports of long lines at the shops.
That could have had a bearing on the decisions made on where the overlay map would allow dispensaries, Goddard said.
Perron agreed.
“Times have changed. Demographics have changed. It’s out there,” he said referring to the consumption of recreational marijuana.
The current marijuana business district covers two relatively large areas, with the largest along the eastern side of College Highway north of downtown, along both sides of Tannery Road terminating on the western side of the road at Silvergrass Road, includes both sides of Sam West Road and most of Hudson Drive, and is intersected by the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, extending to the Westfield city line.
Another large area open to marijuana facilities runs east of College Highway, south of Congamond Road and west of Miller Road.
There is also a relatively smaller marijuana business zone along both sides of Industrial Drive.
When that map was approved by voters, it was to mandate where marijuana cultivators and processors could open for business, not recreational marijuana dispensaries.