PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on the first read of an amended ordinance designed to regulate the local zoning of medical cannabis dispensaries.

 

The first application for a marijuana clinic is expected within the next few months.

 

The final wording of the ordinance, which was previously developed by the Community Development Board and further tailored at the council's Committee on Ordinance & Rules, would prohibit opening of a dispensary within 1,000 feet of a school or public playground. This, in addition to other restrictions to the commercial areas in which it can be located, leave approximately 7 percent of the city open for this use, though the nature of the licensing for this operation may limit the number of possible locations further in a practical sense.

 

Ward 5 Councilor Jonathan Lothrop motioned to add the clause distancing such eventual dispensaries not only from schools, but from public parks and playgrounds. This recommended precaution, said City Planner C.J. Hoss, is aimed more at protecting future dispensaries from federal interference by the Department of Justice, noting that when federal law enforcement has acted against a dispensary, it has been on occasions in which the facility was close to a school or park.

 

An additional restriction on the distance from operating day-care centers was considered but discarded. Lothrop noted that such facilities are more plentiful and include home day-cares licensed by the state, and would further reduce the area of possible sites to about 5.8 percent of the city.

 

Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo raised concerns that the number of restrictions already in place, such as the distance from parks and restricting it from light industrial zones in residential areas, already may too tightly limit the zoning for this use.

 

"I hope we're doing the right thing, making it accessible to everyone but keeping it out of areas it shouldn't be in," said Mazzeo.

 

Hoss said only about 15 percent of the city currently allows any kind of commercial or industrial use, and Lothrop added that the zoning for adult entertainment in Pittsfield narrows the field down to 3.2 percent.  

 

"I'm very comfortable with 7 percent," said Lothrop.