Barre Planning Board opens public hearings on recreational marijuana zoning rules

BARRE -- January 16, 2018, Barre Planning Board opens first of two public forums on how to regulate commercial recreational marijuana facilities in town. Planning Board Chair Doug Martin told residents at the January 16 meeting that the town's moratorium on such establishments, adopted at the June 2017 Town Meeting, runs through December 30, 2018, and that a zoning bylaw governing special-use permits for retail marijuana businesses must be in place before that deadline. Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission representative Chris Ryan noted that because Barre voted yes on the 2016 ballot question, an outright ban would require both a popular vote and a two-thirds Town Meeting supermajority. The local optional marijuana sales tax is capped at 3 percent under the state ballot measure, which Martin described as "not going to be a big revenue generator." A second public hearing is scheduled for January 30, with state licensing applications opening April 1, 2018.