GREENFIELD — As recreational marijuana sales get closer, the Planning Board is trying to decide what regulations will be in place.
The Planning Board will continue working on an ordinance to regulate all marijuana establishments in the city Thursday. According to Director of Planning and Development Eric Twarog, the board is expected to make several decisions on the ordinance, including where marijuana establishments can be in the city and how many will be allowed.
The Planning Board began working on the ordinance during their meeting last month.
Twarog said that the Planning Board will determine whether to have a buffer around schools in the city, which would mean marijuana establishments cannot be located nearby.
According to Twarog, the board will have to determine if they should have the buffer between zero and 500 feet.
During the board’s meeting last month, they voted to remove a buffer that was in the draft ordinance but was going to revisit the issue.
In addition to buffer zones, the Planning Board will also decide what zones in the city can have marijuana establishments, according to Twarog, including sales locations and cultivation sites.
Also, the board is expected to decide how many recreational marijuana sales locations will be allowed in the city.
The city can limit the total between three and 13, Twarog said, according to state regulations. These numbers are based on liquor licenses in the city, and cities can allow as many retail marijuana locations as liquor licenses or limit the amount to 20 percent of the total liquor licenses.
The city must complete the ordinance by June 30, when a moratorium on recreational marijuana sales ends in the city.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, at 114 Main St.
You can reach Dan Desrochers at:
ddesrochers@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 257