Under a late-arriving proposal that Councilmember Michael Ballard said repeatedly said was “only a draft,” the town’s ordinance would be changed to:
- Limit the number of cannabis retailers in town to two, from an indefinite number based on zoning criteria
- Specify the streets and blocks on which cannabis businesses would be allowed
- Create a three-member Cannabis Review Board to hold hearings with applicants and advise the council on whether to award licenses
- Require all proposed cannabis businesses to obtain planning board approval
- Require six off-site parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of cannabis retail space
- Prohibit queuing of customers
- Prohibit consumption lounges
- Set hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday
- Set a minimum distance of 250 feet between cannabis businesses
Eliminate a cannabis delivery services as a permitted use, while allowing retailers to provide delivery to customers.
John Marchetti, a co-owner of Scarlet Reserve Room, a cigar bar on East Front Street, called the changes “just ridiculous.”