A public hearing during Thursday night’s council meeting allowed Principal Planner Jay Vinsky, speaking on behalf of the Planning Board, the opportunity to present a zoning proposal to regulate marijuana cultivation and dispensary operations.
WESTFIELD – As a May 1 the moratorium on medical marijuana operations within the city is about will expire, and the City Council and Planning Board are working to create a zoning ordinance prior to that date.
A public hearing during Thursday night’s council meeting allowed Principal Planner Jay Vinsky, speaking on behalf of the Planning Board, the opportunity to present a zoning proposal to regulate marijuana cultivation and dispensary operations.
“The moratorium that was put in place last year will expire May 1,” Vinsky said. “We need to figure out how medical marijuana will fit into city zoning. It cannot be prohibited.”
Vinsky noted the importance of having an ordinance in place before May 1 by saying that without one a dispensary could be located downtown with pharmacies used as a guideline.
“If the moratorium expires and someone want to open a dispensary, the building inspector would have to put it where pharmacies are located, creating a new category of use to regulate,” Vinsky said.
Another area of concern for the Planning Board, Vinsky added, is “the retail face” that requires a zoning amendment. The proposal would allow a dispensary in the city’s Industrial A district with cultivation enterprises allowed within the Industrial B district.
At least one City Council member was concerned with the olfactory effect a cultivation operation would have on the public. Council member Cindy C. Harris asked Vinsky, how growers would contain odor from cultivation plants.
“Do these facilities emit an odor,” she questioned.
Vinsky responded that anyone interested in a cultivation operation would have to show proof of a system that would mitigate any potential odor.
“It is an area of concern,” he said. “They will have to provide evidence to comply with olfactory regulations.”
Within the Planning Board’s petition outlining regulated uses for medical marijuana, the board is proposing that a dispensary be allowed in the Industrial A district with its approval of a site plan and that appropriate security measures are put in place designed to “minimize any adverse or inconsistent visual or olfactory impacts on the immediate neighborhood,” and has met all regulations imposed by the state.
The 15-minute discussion met no opposition from the public, but neither did it receive an endorsement from community or council members with one city councilor stating his aversion to the entire subject.
“I still don’t support the whole bloody thing,” said Robert A. Paul Sr. “I just want to make that clear.”
During public comments on the matter, James Liptak, a Granville Road resident, asked if a building on his property could be used as a dispensary.
“I have a little store next to my house,” he said. “Would that be able to be a dispensary?”
Ward 4 City Councilor responded to the question by saying it is not an allowed use in that area.
“That area is zoned residential,” she noted. “It would not be allowed.”
The council voted to send the matter to its Legislative and Ordinance sub-committee for further review.
Vinsky said that since Massachusetts voters passed the medical marijuana initiative on Nov. 6, 2012, he has received “a few” calls from potential investors in a growing or dispensary operation in Westfield, but none has been confirmed.
In late January, the state Department of Public Health announced that it had approved 20 non-profit dispensaries. Eight more applicants are being given more time to find a different location. The program director expects 24 to 26 dispensaries to be operating by August. The state law allows for up to 35 in the first year.
The Planning Board will hold its public hearing on the issue during its March 18 meeting.