CONWAY — Voters at a special town meeting Monday opted to lift a temporary moratorium on marijuana establishments and approved a new pot bylaw after adopting changes Planning Board members proposed on the floor.
The roughly 80 people in attendance at Conway Grammar School approved a zoning bylaw outlining permit standards and requirements marijuana establishments must meet in Conway. The rules define 10 marijuana-related terms and create a five-year limit for special permits.
Planning Board members Mary McClintock and Joe Strzegowski explained the amendments they wanted to make to the proposed bylaw. The tweaks included specific mentions of outdoor cultivation, requiring a minimum 25-foot setback from any property line and odor reduction “through siting, use of low-odor seed varieties, and other odor-reduction methods as practicable.” Outdoor cultivation was also added to the list of growing methods that must be conducted in a manner that “minimizes public nuisances including odors, noise, and lighting to neighboring properties.”
The amendments also included deletion of text regarding driveways (it was replaced with language stating driveways must comply with Section 34 of the bylaws), a removal of reference to a recommendation by the Conway Police Department pertaining to lighting and security.
A public also approved of an amendment proposed by a woman who wanted the bylaw to state, “Permitting priority would be given to organic cultivation.”
According to a summary of the then-proposed bylaw, it is not related to personal, recreational or medical marijuana use, but rather provides local control of commercial pot businesses. The state does not require a special permit; the zoning bylaw does.
The bylaw also mandates that marijuana businesses must be 500 feet away from schools or places where children gather, 500 feet away from public recreation parks and fields, and 200 feet from any existing residential use, except for marijuana retailers, which are defined as “an entity licensed to purchase and transport marijuana and marijuana products from marijuana establishments and to sell or otherwise transfer marijuana and marijuana products to marijuana establishments and to consumers.”
Massachusetts voters opted on Nov. 8, 2016, to legalize recreational adult use of marijuana, and related growing and selling of pot and related products.
Reach Domenic Poli at
dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.