Revere City Council faces push back from residents opposing retail marijuana sales

Councillor Kelley: Financial benefits to retail pot shops greatly exaggerated

By Barbara Taormina

The City Council agreed to hold off on a motion to repeal the city’s ban on nonmedical marijuana establishments despite a favorable recommendation from the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee. Repealing the ban is the first step in allowing recreational adult-use marijuana in Revere.

However, as Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri pointed out, repealing the existing ordinance is just that. There are no plans for any businesses or shops. “There are no set establishments, no specific locations; this is just a regulation to allow companies to come before the council for a special permit,” Silvestri said to the crowd in the City Council Chambers, who mostly came to oppose marijuana in Revere.

“I wouldn’t want this in my backyard and I’m not going to put it in yours,” said Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya.

Still, Guarino-Sawaya hit on the reason the council and the city are grappling with the cannabis issue. “This is a million-dollar business that will help everyone in the city by keeping taxes down,” she said.

Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley came armed with statistics that showed the financial benefit of marijuana establishments is exaggerated. She said the average revenue over three years for Lynn, Chelsea and Melrose was around $350,000, not the millions of people often talk about.

During both the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee meeting and the regular City Council meeting, residents opposed to marijuana establishments said the money wasn’t worth it.

Revere Board of Health member Viviana Catano reminded councilors that in 2017 residents voted against allowing recreational marijuana in the city. “We are one of 109 cities and towns that enjoy the protection from the marijuana industry. If you vote to repeal this, the floodgates will open,” Catano said.

Catano went on to say that the 300-foot buffer between marijuana establishments and churches, schools and any place young people congregate that is in the draft ordinance is not nearly enough. She proposed a 1,000-foot buffer zone. Catano also explained that she opposed marijuana establishments in the city because the exposure to cannabis would make people more likely to use it. And it also promotes the belief among young people that marijuana is safe.

A resident who supported Catano’s arguments said the city has 48 tobacco retailers who are targeted to communities of color. “I know you want the tax revenue, but think of people’s health,” he told councilors.

Kelley and fellow Councillor-at-Large Juan Pablo Jaramillo proposed a long list of amendments involving zoning and the operation of marijuana retail sales, but the first step remains to repeal the existing ban.

City Council President Anthony Cogliandro asked the crowd in the City Council Chambers who came to speak in favor of the motion, and no one came forward. When he asked who was there because they oppose marijuana, most of the hands in the room shot up along with some protest signs residents brought to the meeting.

One RHS student said she hated using the school bathroom because there were so many students smoking marijuana. “We don’t need any more of this, we need less of this,” she told councillors.

Other residents said they consider marijuana a gateway drug and they stressed Revere already has a serious drug problem. Several parents brought up the health risks marijuana poses to adolescents whose brains are developing.

Because of the amount of what seemed like unanticipated push back from the community, and because several people said they didn’t know this change was on the city’s agenda, councillors will continue to discuss the motion to repeal the ban and zoning requirements for marijuana establishments at the next meetings of the Legislative Affairs and Zoning Subcommittees.