ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
MAY 12, 2014
MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITIES
Article 13 To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning By-Law by inserting the following new Section 7.7, Special
Requirements for Registered Marijuana Dispensaries, or to take any other action related thereto:
7.7 Special Requirements for Registered Marijuana Dispensaries
7.7.1 Purposes
1. To provide for the establishment of Registered Marijuana Dispensaries ( “ RMDs ” in appropriate places and under strict conditions in accordance with Chapter 369 of the Acts of 2012, An Act For The Humanitarian Medical Use Of Marijuana
(the “ Act ” ) and 105 CMR 725.00 et seq. (the “ Regulations ” ).
2. To minimize the adverse impacts of RMDs on adjacent properties, residential neighborhoods, schools and other places where children congregate, local historic districts, and other land uses potentially incompatible with said Facilities.
3. To regulate the siting, design, placement, security, safety, monitoring, modification, and removal of RMDs.
7.7.2 Applicability
1. The commercial cultivation, production, processing, assembly, packaging, retail or wholesale sale, trade, distribution or dispensing of Marijuana for Medical Use is prohibited unless permitted as a RMD under this Section 7.7.
2. No RMD shall be established except in compliance with the provisions of this Section 7.7.
3. Nothing in this Section 7.7 shall be construed to supersede federal and/or state laws governing the sale and/or distribution of marijuana.
4. If any provision of this Section 7.7 or the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Section 7.7, to the extent it can be given effect, or the application of those provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and to this end the provisions of this Section 7.7 are severable.
7.7.3 Definitions
Registered Marijuana Dispensary shall mean a “ Medical marijuana treatment center ” to mean a not-for-profit entity, as defined by Massachusetts law only, registered under the Act and Regulations, that acquires, cultivates, possesses, processes (including development of related products such as food, tinctures, aerosols, oils, or ointments), transfers, transports, sells, distributes, dispenses, or administers marijuana, products containing marijuana, related supplies, or educational materials to qualifying patients or their personal caregivers. Marijuana for Medical Use shall mean Marijuana that is designated and restricted for use by, and for the benefit of, Qualifying Patients in the treatment of Debilitating
Medical Conditions as set forth in the Act and Regulations.
Marijuana is the substance defined as “ marihuana ” under Chapter 94C of the Massachusetts General Laws.
7.7.4 Eligible Locations for Medical Marijuana Facilities.
1. Registered Marijuana Dispensaries may be allowed by Special Permit from the Canton Zoning Board of Appeals as
Special Permit Granting Authority ( “ SPGA ” ) in the Industrial Zoning District provided the facility meets the requirements of this Section 7.7.
7.7.5 General Requirements and Conditions for all Registered Marijuana Dispensaries.
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1. All RMDs shall be contained within a building or structure.
2. No RMD shall have a gross floor area of less than 2,500 square feet or in excess of 20,000 square feet.
3. An RMD shall not be located in a building that contains any medical doctors offices or the offices of any other professional practitioner authorized to prescribe the use of medical marijuana.
4. The hours of operation of an RMD shall be set by the Special Permit Granting Authority, but in no event shall said RMD be open and/or operating between the hours of 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM.
5. No RMD shall be located on a lot which abuts a residential zoning district or within 500 feet from any residential zone or district, or residential development. No RMD may be located 500 feet from any public or private school; house of worship; day care center; or park, playground, playfield or recreation facility or other facility in which children commonly congregate.
6. No smoking, burning or consumption of any product containing marijuana or marijuana-related products shall be permitted on the premises of an RMD.
7. No RMD shall be located inside a building containing residential units, including without limitation transient housing such as motels and dormitories, or inside a movable or mobile structure such as a van or truck.
8. Signage for the RMD shall include the following language: “ Registration card issued by the MA Department of Public
Health required.
” The required text shall be a minimum of two inches in height.
9. RMDs shall provide the Canton Police Department, Fire Department, Building Commissioner and the Special Permit
Granting Authority with the names, phone numbers and email addresses of all management staff and key holders who can be contacted if there are operating problems associated with the establishment.
7.7.6 Special Permit Requirements
1. An RMD shall only be allowed by special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals as Special Permit Granting Authority in accordance with G.L. c. 40A, §9, subject to the following requirements, conditions and limitations.
2. A special permit for an RMD shall be limited to one or more of the following uses that shall be prescribed by the Special
Permit Granting Authority: cultivation of Marijuana for Medical Use (horticulture) processing and packaging of Marijuana for Medical Use, including Marijuana that is in the form of smoking materials, food products, oils, aerosols, ointments, and other products; retail sale or distribution of Marijuana for Medical Use to Qualifying Patients;
3. In addition to the application requirements set forth in this Section 7.7 a special permit application for an RMD shall include the following:
1) The name and address of each owner of the RMD;
2) Copies of all required licenses and permits issued to the applicant by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and any of its agencies for the RMD;
3) Evidence of the Applicant ’ s right to use the site for the RMD, such as a deed, or lease;
4) if the Applicant is a business organization, a statement under oath disclosing all of its owners, shareholders, partners, members, managers, directors, officers, or other similarly-situated individuals and entities and their addresses. If any of the above are entities rather than persons, the Applicant must disclose the identity of the owners of such entities until the disclosure contains the names of individuals;
5) A certified list of all parties in interest entitled to notice of the hearing for the special permit application, taken from the most recent tax list of the Town and certified by the Town Assessor;
6) Proposed security measures for the RMD, including lighting, fencing, gates and alarms, etc., to ensure the safety of persons and to protect the premises from theft.
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4. Mandatory Findings. The Special Permit Authority shall not issue a special permit for An RMD unless it finds that: the
Facility is designed to minimize any adverse visual or economic impacts on abutters and other parties in interest, as defined in G.L. c. 40A, §11; the Facility demonstrates that it will meet all the permitting requirements of all applicable agencies within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will be in compliance with all applicable state laws and regulations; and the applicant has satisfied all of the conditions and requirements of this Section 7.7;
5. Annual Reporting. Each RMD permitted under this Bylaw shall as a condition of its special permit file an annual report with the Special Permit Granting Authority and the Town Clerk no later than January 31st, providing a copy of all current applicable state licenses for the Facility and/or its owners and demonstrate continued compliance with the conditions of the Special Permit and appear before the SPGA if requested by the SPGA..
6. A special permit granted under this Section shall have a term limited to the duration of the applicant ’ s ownership of the premises as an RMD. A special permit may be transferred only with the approval of the Special Permit Granting Authority in the form of an amendment to the special permit with all information required in this Section 7.7.
7. The applicant shall post a bond before issuance of a building permit to cover costs for the removal of the RMD in the event the Town must remove the RMD. The value of the bond shall be based upon the ability to completely remove all the items associated with the RMD and properly clean the facility at prevailing wages. The value of the bond shall be developed based upon the applicant providing the SPGA with three (3) written bids to meet the noted requirements. An incentive factor of 1.5 shall be applied to all bonds to ensure compliance and adequate funds for the Town to remove the
RMD at prevailing wages.
7.7.7 Abandonment or Discontinuance of Use
1. A Special Permit shall lapse if not exercised within one year of issuance.
2. 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.
7.7.8  Hardship Cultivation of Marijuana
1.  The hardship cultivation of marijuana under a hardship registration in any zoning district shall occur only in compliance with all of the requirements of 105 CMR 725.035.
2. Cultivation and storage of marijuana under a hardship registration shall occur only in the primary residence of the registered qualifying patient or personal caregiver;
3. Cultivation and storage of marijuana under a hardship registration shall not occur in any accessory building or in the yard or other area outside the primary residence of the registered qualifying patient or personal caregiver;
4. Cultivation and storage of marijuana under a hardship registration shall be in an enclosed, locked, indoor area accessible only to the registered qualifying patient or his or her personal caregiver(s).
5. The hardship cultivation and storage of marijuana shall not be visible or otherwise perceptible from the street or other public areas, including without limitation:
(1) visual observation;
(2) noise in excess of the maximum noise level permissible pursuant to applicable law;
(3) smell or odor.
6. The hardship cultivation of marijuana under a hardship registration in any zoning district shall occur only in compliance with all applicable building, sanitary and safety codes and shall be conducted in a safe manner that does not endanger the public health, safety or welfare or create a risk of fire or public nuisance.
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7. The hardship cultivation of marijuana under a hardship registration in any zoning district shall not occur within the common area of any multifamily residential use.
8. The Building Inspector as Zoning Enforcement Officer may inspect the cultivation and/or storage site of a registered qualifying patient with a hardship cultivation registration, or the cultivation site of his or her personal caregiver(s), at any time. Acceptance of a hardship cultivation registration by a registered qualifying patient constitutes consent for such inspection of the cultivation and/or storage site.
9. All registered qualifying patients or their personal caregivers shall provide annual written notice to the Building
Inspector that they are engaged in the hardship cultivation of marijuana. Such written notice shall state the address at which the hardship cultivation or storage of marijuana is occurring and the specific enclosed, locked area accessible only to the registered qualifying patient or his or her personal caregiver(s) in which the hardship cultivation or storage of marijuana is occurring.
Planning Board
FINANCE COMMITTEE MOTION:
MOVED: That the Finance Committee recommends that the motion presented by the Planning Board to
Town Meeting for Article 13 as written in the warrant be adopted.
FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTE: 8-0-0
PLANNING BOARD MOTION:
MOVED: That the Zoning By-law be amended to add a new Section 7.7, Special Requirements for
Registered Marijuana Dispensaries, as set forth in the Warrant.
PLANNING BOARD VOTE: 3-0-0
Jeremy Comeau, Chairperson of the Planning Board, gave the following report:
“ This is to certify that a public hearing concerning the subject matter of the warrant for the 2014 Annual Town Meeting was held by the Planning Board on February 19 th , 2014 at 7:10pm, and continued on March 5 th , March 19 th and April 2 nd ,
2014 in the Salah Meeting Room at Town Hall, in accordance with the provision of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter
40A, as most recently amended, to see if the Town will vote to amend the Town ’ s Zoning By-Law, by inserting or amending the following, or take any other action in relation thereto; Section 7.7 Special Requirements for Medical
Marijuana Facilities and subsequent sections. Notice of the subject matter for the public hearing, sufficient for identification, has been published in the Canton Citizen, a newspaper of general circulation in the Town on January 30 th and February 6 th , 2014, and on file in the office of the Planning Board, the Town Clerk, the Board of Selectmen, at
Memorial Hall, and at the reference desk of the Canton Public Library.
”
Mr. Comeau further stated, “ On April 2 nd , 2014 the Planning Board voted, three members in favor and zero members opposed to send a positive recommendation to Town Meeting, therefore, the Planning moves Article 13 as printed in the warrant.
”
Mr. Comeau explained, “ This proposed by-law would provide for a special permit process if a Medical Marijuana Facility came to Canton. Such a facility would be subject to the state rules and regulations, however, the Town is also allowed to create its own rules and regulations. This is a fairly standard by-law used by numerous other towns throughout the
Commonwealth. It ’ s been checked over numerous times by the Town Counsel, and the Planning Board would support this article for this year.
”
Mr. Porter stated that he feels it is important to add that “ if we don ’ t adopted this, they could, my understanding is that they could go in anywhere, so we to make sure to adopt something, to make sure that if they were to come in to Canton that they come in to it appropriately ” .
Mr. Comeau added, “ This is similar to, a number of years ago the Town created the Adult Entertainment By-Law, not that we wanted it to come to Canton, but this is, hopefully, to provide strict rules and regulations if one came to Canton ” .
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Moderator Richard Staiti commented, “ Basically, by establishing an area, you can regulate it, if you don ’ t, then you have trouble, correct?
”
Mr. Comeau responded, “ It has to be so far away from a school, in an industrial area as well, and so forth.
”
VOTED: That the Zoning By-law be amended to add a new Section 7.7, Special Requirements for Registered Marijuana
Dispensaries, as set forth in the Warrant.
ADOPTED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE
A true copy.
Attest:
______________________________
Tracy K. Kenney, Canton Town Clerk
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