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Date: 12/14/2023
SOUTHWICK — Voters approved a zoning bylaw establishing the regulatory framework needed to open a cannabis retailer in town, narrowly shot down a request by the owner of Crepes Tea House to rezone a portion of his property, and overwhelming approved installing six pickleball courts in town during the Special Town Meeting on Dec. 5.
There were seven articles on the warrant that the roughly 225 residents considered at the meeting held in Southwick Regional School’s auditorium.
Of the seven articles, the zoning bylaw regulating retail cannabis sales and the rezoning request by Crepes Tea House owner Art Rabinskas generated the most debate.
Before voters began debating the zoning bylaw, they overwhelmingly approved establishing a 3% excise tax on retail sales of cannabis, and removing the provision in the town’s zoning bylaw prohibiting sales of non-medical marijuana.
But once Town Moderator Celeste St. Jacques opened the floor to debate on Article 3, which asked voters to approve a bylaw crafted by the Planning Board that included regulating where a retailer might open, it only took a few seconds before a resident stood up to speak.
It was James Jaron, a Southwick resident who is also the owner of Holyoke Cannabis, and he targeted a provision in the proposed bylaw that would mandate a distance of at least 250 feet between a marijuana retailer and the nearest private residence.
The distance had sparked debate by members of the Planning Board when crafting the bylaw, and the Town Meeting assembly was no different.
Jaron, who has already requested negotiating a host agreement with the town to open a shop, proposed lowering the distance from 250 feet to 150 feet.
He also said that a retailer doesn’t want to be “tucked in … or hidden” in one of the town’s industrial zones.
His proposed amendment failed in a voice vote.
Joseph Deedy then took the podium and said that although the 500-feet restrictions probably wouldn’t “pass muster” with the state’s attorney general, who must sign off on the bylaw, he proposed a distance restriction of 350 feet.
His primary motivation, he said, was that he didn’t want to see a cannabis retailer in the center of town.
Planning Board Chair Michael Doherty then spoke about what areas of the town’s Business Restricted zoning district could accommodate a marijuana retailer, given the proposed 250-foot restriction, and listed the various places along College Highway where a cannabis retailer could locate, including a few properties on Sam West Road.
If the distance restriction were increased to 350 feet, Doherty said, all of Sam West Road would be ruled out. At 500 feet, there would only be six properties on College Highway that could be a potential site.
Former Planning Board Chair Marcus Phelps said he spent time studying the town’s geographical information system and concluded that 350 feet was too restrictive.
Keith Deyo reminded the audience that Town Meeting in May had approved amending the town’s general bylaws to allow recreational sales.
“If we restrict these to too great an extent, there’s no reason for them to be here. … Let them be here,” Deyo said, which was met with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
There were also comments about restricting a retailer to the town’s industrial zones.
Select Board member Jason Perron, who initially raised the issue of allowing sales in town, reminded everyone there is a residence on Hudson Drive, in the middle of an industrial park.
He then said that increasing the distance restriction could put the town in legal jeopardy.
“Several towns have faced this liability. … If we lock people out, we’re going to have some legal ramifications,” Perron said.
Former Town Moderator James Putnam moved the question to force a vote on Deedy’s amendment. It was voted down.
Deedy then took to the podium again and asked Doherty if the town’s existing marijuana bylaw, which was approved by Town Meeting in 2018, was still in effect.
Doherty said that it was, but that marijuana regulations had changed significantly since then.
He also wasn’t sure the existing bylaw was legal or if it would be allowed by the attorney general.
A resident then asked Town Counsel Benjamin Coyle whether the proposed bylaw, if approved by town voters, would likely be approved by the attorney general. He couldn’t say definitively yes, but there is a high probability that it would.
Phelps then reminded the audience that the bylaw approved in 2018 was specific to marijuana cultivators only, and that the overlay zoning map that was approved then was also specific to cultivators.
Needing only a majority to pass, voters, in a voice vote, approved the bylaw with the 250-foot distance restriction and a limit of two establishments.
Any retailer that approaches the town seeking to open must still secure a special permit from the Planning Board before it could begin the process of opening.
Also on the warrant for the meeting was the request by Art Rabinskas, the owner of Crepes Tea House at 157 Feeding Hills Rd., to rezone a portion of his property from Agricultural and Conservation to Business Restricted.
Rabinskas took the podium to explain why he was requesting the rezoning.
He said he got approvals from the Conservation Commission and secured building permits to erect three small, enclosed buildings on the property, which he had requested from the town during the pandemic in an attempt to offer his customers outside seating.
“It’s not permitted right,” Rabinskas said.
Doherty explained that the building Crepes Tea House occupies is what is called a preexisting nonconforming use because it is in an AC zoning district, and that it was there when the district was created.
That meant Rabinskas could not expand the footprint of the existing building.
However, he added, Doherty added, if voters approved the rezoning request, it would only provide Rabinskas an opportunity to request a special permit for the use of the three buildings, not permission.
No one spoke in favor of granting Rabinskas’ request.
However, there were several who spoke against it, including Diane Juzba, who resides at 145 Feeding Hills Rd., and each echoed her comments.
She complimented Rabinskas for the having a thriving business there, but that rezoning a portion of the property would benefit him.
“This is solely for his gain, not the community, not the neighbors, or people who abut the property,” Juzba said, adding that it could also devalue properties in the immediate area.
There were several comments about how the buildings, which were originally described as gazebos but ended up enclosed, were allowed in the first place.
No one addressed that until Conservation Commission Chair Chris Pratt said the commission was “relooking at the buildings … the designs [approved] were not as built.”
Michelle Pratt asked Doherty is the property was rezoned, what type of business would be allowed there if the property was sold, and the new owner wanted to change its existing use from a restaurant or bar.
Doherty said the only business allowed that wouldn’t required to secure a special permit would be a bank.
The rezoning request required a two-thirds favorable vote. After debate, the vote came in 123 yes, 66 no. As it needed 126 votes to pass, it failed.