City officials are lining up the pieces to bring recreational marijuana businesses to Revere. Chief of Planning and Community Development Tom Skwierawski was at this week’s City Council meeting to inform councillors that the ordinance passed in 2017 that banned marijuana establishments was being repealed.
“It’s a stigmatized plant that can actually benefit people,” said Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri. “It’s that stigma that blocked it years ago and is holding it up today.”
Silvestri presented a draft ordinance that provides definitions, uses, special permit district boundaries and regulations for marijuana establishments. “I think it’s time we take this leap,” he said. “We’re missing out on a ton of revenue.”
And as Silvestri pointed out, the city will need to create revenue to build the new high school.
“If done right, the city can benefit from the cannabis market and Revere shouldn’t just turn away from that opportunity,” said Silvestri.
Councillors who previously voted to ban marijuana establishments in Revere have acknowledged that problems and risks often cited by cannabis opponents have not materialized.
Skwierawski said Revere has set the local three percent tax option, and the number of marijuana establishments in the city is limited to three, which is 20 percent of the number of package stores in the city.
The zoning proposal on the table calls for a 300-foot buffer zone between any marijuana establishment and any school, public or private, child care facility, libraries, playgrounds, public parks, youth centers or any place where minors congregate. The Massachusetts Cannabis Commission calls for a 500-foot buffer zone from schools, but municipalities can create their own rules, exceptions and buffer zones.
Buffer zones are one of the concerns raised by Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley, who suggested a 400- or 500-foot buffer. “My main concern is we have unique zoning in Revere,” said Kelley. “We have commercial zones that abut residential neighborhoods.”
Kelley suggested taking the southern side of Squire Road out of the pool of commercial sites where a cannabis business could locate. Kelley feels that since the council is just starting to carve out an ordinance they should get it right from the start and keep marijuana in the city’s commercial districts. She wants to spare residents the burden of attending a special permit hearing to oppose a cannabis business in their neighborhood. “That’s my job,” she said.
There will be a public hearing on marijuana establishments and the ordinance and zoning that would govern them on September 23.