HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-26 Board of Health Supplemental Materials 10/2612017 Section 3
Part I ADMINISTR.KfION OF THE GOVERNMENT
Title XV REGULATION OF TRADE
Chapter 94G REGULATION OF'rffE USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF MARUUANA NOT MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED
Section 3 LOCAL CONTROL
C Text of section added by 2016, 334, Sec. 5 effective Deceniber 15, 2016, See 2016, 334, Sec. 12.1
Section 3. Local control
(a) A city or town may adopt ordinances and by-laws that impose reasonable safeguards on the operation of
marijuana establishments,provided they are not unreasonably impracticable and are not in conflict with this
chapter or with regulations made pursuant to this chapter and that:
(1) govern the time, place and manner of marijuana establishment operations and of any business dealing in
marijuana accessories, except that zoning ordinances or by-laws shall not prohibit placing a marijuana
establislunent which cultivates, manufactures or sells marijuana or marijuana products in any area in which a
medical marijuana treatment center is registered to engage in the same type of activity;
(2) limit the number of marijuana establishments in the city or town, except that a city or town may only
adopt an ordinance or by-law by a vote of the voters of that city or town if the ordinance or by-law:
(i) prohibits the operation of I or more types of marijuana establishments within the city or town;
(ii) limits the number of marijuana retailers to fewer than 20 per cent of the number of licenses issued
within the city or town for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages not to be drunk on the premises where sold
under chapter 138 of the General Laws; or
(iii) limits the number of any type of marijuana establishment to fewer than the number of medical
marijuana treatment centers registered to engage in the same type of activity in the city or town.
(3) restrict the licensed cultivation, processing and manufacturing of marijuana that is a public nuisance;
(4) establish reasonable restrictions on public signs related to marijuana establishments; and
(5) establish a civil penalty for violation of an ordinance or by-law enacted pursuant to this subsection,
similar to a penalty imposed for violation of an ordinance or by-law relating to alcoholic beverages.
(b) The city council of a city and the board of selectmen of a town shall,upon the filing with the city or
town clerk of a petition (i) signed by not fewer than 10 per cent of the number of voters of such city or town
voting at the state election preceding the filing of the petition and (ii) conforming to the provisions of the
General Laws relating to initiative petitions at the municipal level, request that the question of whether to
allow, in such city or town, the sale of marijuana and marijuana products for consumption on the premises
where sold be submitted to the voters of such city or town at the next biennial state election. If a majority of
10/26/2017 Section 3
the votes cast in the city or town are not in favor of allowing the consumption of marijuana or marijuana
products on the premises where sold, such city or town shall be taken to have not authorized the
consumption of marijuana and marijuana products on the premises where sold.
(c) No city or town shall prohibit the transportation of marijuana or marijuana products or adopt an
ordinance or by-law that makes the transportation of marijuana or marijuana products unreasonably
impracticable.
(d)No agreement between a city or town and a marijuana establishment shall require payment of a fee to
that city or town that is not directly proportional and reasonably related to the costs imposed upon the city or
town by the operation of a marijuana establishment. Any cost to a city or town by the operation of a
marijuana establishment shall be documented and considered a public record as defined by clause Twenty-
Sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws.