Planning Board Report to Council regarding Zoning Amendment - Retail Marijuana CITY OF SALEM
PLANNING BOARD 1011DEC 18 PM 3-'27
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Report to City Council SALEF�► SASS
December 18,2017
At its meeting on December 7,2017 the Planning Board discussed the proposed Zoning Ordinance
amendments regarding adding new uses, allowed only by special permit, to Section 3.0, Table of
Principal and Accessory Uses for a retail marijuana cultivator within zones B2,B4,Industrial (I) and
Business Park Development (BPD), a marijuana product manufacturer within zones I and BPD, a
marijuana testing facility within the I zone,and a marijuana retailer within zones B2,B4,I and BPD,
and a new use for a marijuana testing facility allowed by right in the B2 and BPD zones;adding new
definitions to Section 10.0 for marijuana establishment, marijuana cultivator, marijuana product
manufacturer, marijuana testing facility, marijuana retailer, marijuana processing, marijuana
manufacturing, marijuana,marijuana accessories and marijuana products; and adding a new Section
6.10 — Special Regulations to provide for the special permit process for marijuana establishments
listed in Section 3.0. The Planning Board unanimously voted in favor of recommending that the
City Council approve the amendments as modified below:
Sections that are recommended to be approved as proposed are not included in this report. The
recommended modifications are shown in italics and deletions are shown as strikethrough below.
Commentary from the Planning Board is noted in bullets below each modification. The full
ordinance with the recommended changes is attached for reference.
Section 3.0 Table of Principal and Accessory Uses
RC R1 R2 R3 B1 B2 B4 B5 I BPD
Retail Marijuana N N N N N BA BA N BA BA
Cultivator BA BA
Marijuana Product N N N N N N N N BA BA
Manufacturer
Marijuana Testing N N N N N N N BA
Facility BA BA
Marijuana Retailer N N N N N BA BA N BA BA
BA BA
• The Planning Board recommends all marijuana related uses be by special permit and thus
recommends changing the testing facility in B1 and BPD to require a special permit by the
Board of Appeals. The Board considered cultivator and retail marijuana uses appropriate in
the B1 and B5 zoning districts, and does not have any recommended changes for the
manufacturing use.
Section 6.0 Special Regulations of the Salem Zoning Ordinance
Section 6.10.6 subsection 5 to be revised: Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 94G, §5(b)(3), a marijuana
establishment shall not be located within 500 feet of a pre-existing public or private school
providing education in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12.
> >
• Rather than limiting the noticing to specific uses/protecting categories under Section 6.10.6,
the Planning Board recommends adding a requirement to Section 6.10.7 that requires a
notice to be sent by mail to all abutters within 500-feet. This takes away from the ambiguity
of what a park is, and removes the administrative task of keeping an updated list of the uses
such as licensed daycares and nursery schools.
Section 6.10.6 subsection 12 to be removed: No maouanft shall be smoked, eateft, or Otherwise
• The Planning Board discussed onsite consumption and ultimately determined that onsite
consumption should be allowed,thus recommends striking this section.Additionally,if State
Law prohibits onsite consumption this section is moot, thus does not need to be included in
this ordinance.
Section 6.10.7 to be revised: If a Special Permit is required by Section 3.0 Table of Principle and
Accessory Uses of the Zoning Ordinance, the petitioner (Applicant) shall submit a standard petition
form and materials of the Zoning Board of Appeals application in addition to the following required
materials:
1. Notice from the City shall be sent by mail,postage prepaid to 'j arties in interest"as used in MGL Chp.
40A nvithin five hundrzd(500)feet of the proper y line of the petitioner as tbey appear on the most recent
applicable tax list.
• Massachusetts General Law Chp. 40A Section 11 requires a 300-foot notice to all parties
of interest. Adding this section will increase the noticing requirement to 500 feet, and
will capture all the uses that were identified under the proposed section 6.10.6 subsection
5. The Planning Board recommends that this notice should be sent by the City, not the
petitioner.
Section 6.10.9 subsection 1 to be removed: 9740 Of
0
based rettewable met"etedits,aad�er-ftn equivalent that is subjeet to approval of th `'
• The Planning Board was concerned that this section would be cost prohibitive.
Additionally, given that Salem is a small, dense city the Board is not concerned with the
electricity consumption that this use would generate.
Section 6.10.10 subsection 1 to be removed:
1002,16 of their e4eeliiei 3a throtTh at least 0
o of on site generation f-aeffities, N
• The Planning Board was concerned that this section would be cost prohibitive.
Additionally, given that Salem is a small, dense city the Board is not concerned with the
electricity consumption that this use would generate.
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Section 10.0. Definitions
Section 10.0 to be revised: "Marijuana retailer", an entity licensed to purchase and deliver marijuana
and marijuana products from marijuana establishments and to deliver or sell otherwise t....-s fe
marijuana and marijuana products to marijuana establishments and to consumers.
The Board determined this is unnecessarily wordy, thus recommended removing
"otherwise transfer."
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact Tom Daniel, AICP,
Director of Planning&Community Development,at 978-619-5685.
Yours truly,
s
Ben Anderson,Chair
CC:Cheryl LaPointe,City Clerk
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