medical marijuana for sale.JPG

Different strains of marijuana are displayed during the grand opening of the Seattle location of the Northwest Cannabis Market, for sales of medical marijuana products. Amherst officials are looking into drafting a zoning bylaw to govern where and how such a facility should operate in town.

(Photo by Elaine Thompson / Associated Press [file])

AMHERST - Planning officials are in the process of crafting a marijuana dispensary zoning bylaw to control where such establishments can be located.

The state is accepting applications for dispensaries in the first phase of bidding. The first dispensary is expected to open sometime next year.

Up to 35 nonprofit dispensaries will be allowed across the state, with at least one, but no more than five, in each county.

The Chicopee City Council voted in June to restrict medical marijuana dispensaries to a small section of the city's industrial park. Palmer officials approved a temporary moratorium on marijuana facilities to give officials more time to study the issued. Other communities including Springfield, Agawam and West Springfield are considering moratoriums as well.

In an email, Amherst's planning director, Jonathan Tucker, said his office has received “general inquires….but no proposals.”

The staff will be “keeping the Planning Board aware of progress on this issue," he said. "Knowing that this was coming, and wanting the community to be able to control any proposed dispensary through the permit process, the board put the amendment on the list of zoning articles to consider for this coming fall special town meeting.”

The bylaw is on the zoning subcommittee’s working list for its Aug. 14 meeting to be held at 5 p.m. in Town Hall.

As part of the process to create a bylaw, Tucker reported that his staff has since February been meeting with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and representatives from other Western Massachusetts communities “to review ongoing interpretations of the state regulations and develop model bylaw language.”

According to the proposed bylaw, the town recognizes “that the nature of the substance cultivated, processed, and/or sold by medical marijuana treatment centers and off-site medical marijuana dispensaries may have objectionable operational characteristics and may be located in such a way to pose a threat to the health, safety, and general well-being of the public as well as patients seeking treatment.

“Therefore, specific and separate regulation of Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs) and Off-site Medical Marijuana Dispensary (OMMD) facilities is necessary to ensure that adverse effects will not contribute to blight in the surrounding neighborhood or exacerbate risks to public health and safety associated with other nearby land uses, and that such facilities are not located within close proximity of minors and do not become concentrated in any one area within the Town of Amherst.”

The proposal includes numerous regulations and prohibitions including where such a facility could be sited. It also requires details showing proposed security measures “including lighting, fencing, gates and alarms, etc. ensuring the safety of employees and patrons and to protect the premises from theft or other criminal activity.”

The state is requiring that prospective marijuana dispensaries pay a $1,500 fee for a first-phase application, and $30,000 for a second phase application. Both are nonrefundable.

Dispensaries that are selected will be required to pay a $50,000 annual registration fee. There will also be a $500 annual registration fee for each dispensary employee.