Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: John Laidler

RULES FOR POT SITE DEBATED IN ESSEX

A new town bylaw restricting medical marijuana sites is a focus of 
renewed debate in Essex, even as three groups pursue final state 
approval to open dispensaries in other communities north of Boston.

The Essex bylaw, approved by Attorney General Martha Coakley last 
month, forbids any medical marijuana facility from being located 
within 2,500 feet of a school, preschool, day care center, 
playground, or athletic field, or within 1,500 feet of a residential dwelling.

Critics say the bylaw, adopted at a June Special Town Meeting, 
effectively outlaws medical marijuana facilities by limiting them to 
sites that are in conservation areas or otherwise practically 
unbuildable. The attorney general last year ruled that communities 
cannot impose an outright ban on medical marijuana facilities when 
she struck down bylaws in Reading and Wakefield.

The Essex measure was sponsored as a citizens' petition by residents 
opposing a plan to locate a marijuana-growing facility on Western 
Avenue. The Newton-based group proposing the facility, Garden 
Remedies, dropped its plans for Essex before the Town Meeting vote.

Cliff Ageloff, one of several Essex residents who had urged the 
attorney general to reject the Essex bylaw, said that when state 
voters legalized medical marijuana in 2012, the intent was that 
"every city or town would bear the benefit or the burden of medical 
marijuana, that they could not zone it out by forcing facilities to 
locate in the wilderness.

"This sets a legal precedent that other cities and towns can follow 
suit," he said.

Scott Solombrino, one of the leaders of the group sponsoring the 
bylaw, said experts the group hired found there were buildable sites 
in town. With the ruling by Coakley's office, the matter is settled, he said.

In a letter to the town approving the bylaw, Coakley said the issue 
of whether the new rule left sufficient land for a medical marijuana 
facility "is a fact-dependent matter beyond the scope of the Attorney 
General's bylaw review function."

Somombrino said the Garden Remedies' growing site would have been one 
street away from a preschool, two blocks from a park, and adjacent to 
a school bus stop.

Although Garden Remedies withdrew its plan, Solombrino said 
supporters of the bylaw believed it was still needed to guard against 
future proposals for similar locations.

The state Department of Public Health has granted provisional 
certificates for 15 dispensaries. The agency is now evaluating 
whether their facilities meet safety, security, and other standards. 
Those that do and secure all needed local permits will receive final 
certificates allowing them to begin growing and selling their products.

The three groups with provisional licenses north of Boston include 
Alternative Therapies Group, which seeks to open its dispensary in a 
commercial building at 50 Grove St in Salem. The group has a special 
permit from the city and is finalizing its construction, according to 
Dominick Pangallo, chief of staff to Mayor Kimberley L. Driscoll.

The Globe reported that US Attorney Carmen Ortiz was considering the 
use of federal law to shut down dispensaries that open within 1,000 
feet of schools, playgrounds, and public housing. The story said the 
Salem dispensary was among six that would be within 1,000 feet of 
schools or playgrounds. The Mack Park playground falls within that 
boundary in Salem.

Pangallo said by e-mail that the playground is beyond the 500-foot 
buffer established in state rules and that the Mack Park Neighborhood 
Association and the ward councilor for that area both supported the location.

"The 1,000-foot buffer concept seems like a thinly veiled effort to 
simply prevent dispensaries from being able to open," Pangallo said. 
"A buffer of that size would effectively rule out just about any 
potential location in Salem, which is contrary to the will of the 
voters here and the position of just about all of our elected city officials."

The Salem dispensary plans to locate its cultivation facility at 10 
Industrial Way in Amesbury. The group secured site plan approval from 
the city, according to Amesbury planning director Nipun Jain.

Patriot Care Corp., which seeks to locate its dispensary in leased 
space at 70 Industrial Avenue East in Lowell, was awarded a special 
permit from the city and expects to file for building permits soon, 
according to Dennis Kunian, a spokesman for the group.

Healthy Pharms seeks to open a combined dispensary and growing 
facility in Haverhill. The group had chosen a site on Hale Street, 
but the location was not included in the area set aside for medical 
marijuana facilities in a zoning ordinance approved by the City 
Council Nov. 18 that consists of part of the Broadway Business Park.

Valerio Romano, Healthy Pharms' attorney, said, "We are really 
excited that the Haverhill City Council . . . passed the zoning 
ordinance and we are going to work with them and property owners in 
that area to find a location in that area that works for our program."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom