BRAINTREE – The town council ordinance and rules committee wants to hear from residents and the business community on a proposal to allow some types of recreational marijuana businesses in town.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Cahill Auditorium of town hall.
A proposed zoning change would allow for recreational, or adult use, marijuana growing, production and research facilities in the highway business and commercial districts. The proposal would not allow for recreational marijuana retail shops.
Flower Xpress has proposed a marijuana cultivation and production facility in the long-vacant warehouse at 280 Ivory St., next to the Braintree MBTA station and across the street from the transfer station.
Councilor-at-large David Ringius, who chairs the ordinance and rules committee, said the meeting has been scheduled because marijuana legalization has been the subject of much discussion in the town.
“I want to give everyone on both sides of the issue a chance to comment,” Ringius said in an interview.
He noted that in the 2016 state referendum which legalized recreational marijuana, the vote in Braintree was 10,985 to 9,251 against the measure.
The town council voted in 2018 to prohibit recreational marijuana facilities in town.
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In a presentation to the planning board last month, Flower Xpress Chief Executive Officer Dru Ledbetter said that between commercial property taxes and the state’s 3% excise tax on profits, the town could receive $6 million in annual revenue from the proposed facility, which would employee 200 people.
Ledbetter said the company will need to negotiate a host community agreement with the town and gain approval from the state Cannabis Control Commission.
The planning board voted 4 to 1 last month to recommend the zoning change to the town council, adding they would like to see a buffer zone required between marijuana facilities and residential areas. A two-thirds vote of the council is needed to approve the measure.
Planning board approval would be needed for a site plan of the facility.
In a related matter, the Cannabis Control Commission last month approved a provisional license for Native Sun Wellness, which plans to open a medical marijuana store as well as a cultivation and production facility at 12 Granite St., the former Pier 1 Imports store.
Medical marijuana facilities are not subject to the town ordinance.
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