CPDC Recommends Marijuana Moratorium

Last Fall, Town Meeting voted for a zoning bylaw that prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries in town. However, Attorney General Martha Coakley did not approve the bylaw given that it conflicts with state law. The selectmen and Community Planning and Development Commission are now in favor of imposing a temporary moratorium for dispensaries. Town Meeting will have to approve the moratorium before it is finalized.

The CPDC met Monday and agreed to move forward with the moratorium after the selectmen recommended it earlier this month, according to Staff Planner Jessie Wilson. The temporary moratorium will allow the town to investigate the dispensaries and see how other towns are handling them. 

"It will give the town some time to think about how they want to handle the use," she said.

The CPDC will hold a public hearing in early July regarding the moratorium, Wilson said. Then the topic will be voted on at a subsequent Town Meeting in November.

The temporary moratorium will last for one year, Wilson said. That will give the town enough time to propose something more permanent at November Town Meeting in 2014.