Swansea Releases Information On Citizen’s Petition To Establish Marijuana Undertakings Overlay District!

Town Administrator Mallory Aronstein wants to tell Swansea residents about the upcoming citizen’s petition to make a Marijuana Establishments Overlay District, which will then be voted on at a Special Town Meeting.

The Town of Swansea will hold a Special Town Meeting on the evening of Thursday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Case High School, 70 School St. At the Special Town Meeting, people will be asked to vote just on a proposed change to the Town of Swansea’s Zoning Bylaw and Zoning Map to create a Marijuana Institution Overlay District.

This same proposed Marijuana Undertakings Overlay District will be made up of parts of the Business B District and the Production Districts that are on loads and loads 23 and 24C of the current Appraisers Map 74. The property is presently divided into two different zones.

The front part is zoned as Business B, and the back part is zoned as Manufacturing. At the moment, marijuana establishments are only permitted in the Manufacturing zoning district. The petition would let the property owner at 610 GAR Highway use the existing structure in the front of the property as a marijuana dispensary instead of tearing down the current building and building a new one in the back of the property.

On March 6, the Planning Board agreed to suggest the Marijuana Undertakings Overlay District bylaw. The Board said that putting the user in the current building closer to Rt. 6 in the Business B zoning district would be safer than putting it in a new building further back in the Production zoning district. If the petition passes, the Marijuana Undertakings Overlay District won’t change or affect any of the underlying zoning districts.