The Planning Board and not the Board of Appeals shall be the Special Permit Granting Authority for any Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD). Applications for Special Permits for RMDs must conform to the Standards and Procedures of this Article XXXIII, in addition to the generally applicable standards for the grant of a special permit set forth in MGL. c. 40A, § 9.
[Amended 5-6-2014 ATM by Art. 31]
A.
RMDs shall not be located within 500 feet of:
(1)
Any school, including a public or private elementary, vocational or secondary school or a public or private college or university:
(2)
Any child care facility, including preschools;
(3)
Any facility in which children commonly congregate, including, but not limited to, a public library, a playground, an athletic field or recreational facility, a place of worship, and a Town owned beach.
B.
For the purposes of this section, the distance of an RMD from a protected use shall be measured in a straight line from the nearest point of the property line of the protected use to the nearest point of the RMD.
A.
No smoking, burning or other consumption of marijuana or marijuana-related products shall be permitted on the premises of an RMD.
B.
No person under the age of 21 shall be permitted on the premises of an RMD unless that person is a qualified patient or accompanied by a caregiver or patient with a valid registration card.
C.
No RMD shall be located inside a building containing residential units, including transient housing.
D.
No RMD shall be located in a movable or mobile structure such as a van or truck.
E.
No RMD shall be located in a building that contains any medical doctor’s offices or the offices of any other professional practitioner authorized to prescribe the use of medical marijuana.
F.
All RMDs shall be contained within buildings or structures having a gross floor area of not less than 1,000 square feet and not more than 20,000 square feet.
G.
An RMD shall be required to remove all material, plants equipment and other paraphernalia prior to surrendering its state issued licenses or permits or within six months of ceasing operations, whichever comes first.
A.
Applicants for an RMD Special Permit shall submit the following information in addition to all other required submissions:
(1)
Names and address of all owners, managers, members, partners and employees;
(2)
Sources of all marijuana that will be processed, packaged, sold or distributed at the facility;
(3)
Projected quantity of marijuana that will be processed, packaged, sold or distributed at the facility;
(4)
The name and contact information for a person on staff at the RMD whose responsibilities include community relations, to whom Town staff can provide notice if there are operating problems associated with the establishment.
B.
No Special Permit may be issued unless the Planning Board finds that the RMD is designed so as to minimize any adverse visual or economic impacts on the abutters or other parties in interest, as defined in M.G.L. c. 40A, § 11.
C.
Each RMD receiving a Special Permit shall, as a condition of the Special Permit, file with the Planning Board and the Town Clerk a copy of all reports submitted to any state agency, including the reports required by 105 CMR 725.105(Q)(4) describing the RMD’s liability insurance coverage and the annual security system audits required by 105 CMR 725.110(G).
D.
Special Permits for RMDs shall have a term limited to the duration of the applicant’s ownership and the use of the premises as an RMD. Transfers of the special permit may occur only with the permission of the Planning Board, and only in the form of an amendment to the Special Permit.