AMHERST — Legal sale of marijuana remains more than a year away, but Amherst officials may consider drafting a series of articles for fall Town Meeting that could provide more local control, including where dispensaries are located and how many can be licensed.

The articles also aim to ensure the town receives the revenue its entitled to from these enterprises based on the referendum approved in November 2016.

The Select Board, which meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Town Room at Town Hall, will be presented updated information about recreational marijuana issues from Economic Development Director Geoff Kravitz, and also consider sending a letter to state Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, expressing concern that many Massachusetts communities have to begin contemplating their own bylaws before the Cannabis Control Commission puts in place regulations.

“We’re trying to figure out a thoughtful and deliberative way,” Kravitz said.

He issued a memorandum to Town Manager Paul Bockelman in advance of the meeting outlining a possible strategy for handling recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, retailers who want to operate recreational marijuana shops in the state must submit license applications to the state starting April 1, 2018 to begin selling the product July 1, 2018.

What complicates matters for Amherst is how soon the state Legislature, through the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, will enact legislation, and the dates of March 15, 2018, and July 1, 2018, that the Cannabis Control Commission is expected to establish initial and final regulations. That would place the final rules after next spring’s annual Town Meeting.

“One of the challenges is the timing of state regulations, which are not ideal for communities with town meeting,” Kravitz said.

The draft letter to Rosenberg, dated April 13, suggests that legislation offer cities and towns a 180-day moratorium after regulations are adopted.

“We believe that this is an ideal solution because it provides communities that are interested in allowing recreational marijuana establishments with sufficient time to determine appropriate bylaws based on the final regulations,” the draft letter reads.

The rules are also complicated by the fact that Amherst voters overwhelmingly supported recreational marijuana legalization, meaning Amherst is not one of the towns in Massachusetts seeking ways to opt out from hosting such dispensaries.

In a memo to Bockelman, Kravitz wrote that there are four primary areas where Amherst should focus its advocacy: clarifying whether recreational marijuana can be subject to a moratorium even if medical marijuana shops are up and running; providing more local control of permitting; offering more time to review regulations and craft zoning bylaws; and determining if the 2 percent local option tax will be sufficient.

“The ability to make improvements in these four areas will have a significant impact on the town’s ability to administer the law in a way that will produce the best outcomes for our residents,” Kravitz wrote.

In fact, based on estimates of costs related to enforcing the so-called gray and black markets and dealing with new medical problems caused by marijuana use, Amherst may need to hire two additional police officers and four first responders, Kravitz notes. Annually, these would cost $552,000, for salary and benefits, meaning that sales in Amherst would need to be $27.6 million, based on the 2 percent local option tax.

Many of these same concerns were raised by the Massachusetts Municipal Association in a March 20 letter to the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy from Geoffrey Beckwith, its executive director. To address the shortcomings, such as lack of local control and insufficient revenues, the Legislature should act as it did when Proposition 2½, the tax-cap limiting law, went into effect in 1981, Beckwith wrote.

In addition to informing Bockelman and the Select Board about issues from legislative hearings and information forums on marijuana, Kravitz said the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board, which examines potential zoning changes, is ready to begin work on marijuana bylaws for Amherst.

“We’re thinking about this and trying to get in front of it,” Kravitz said. “Our approach is to be as proactive and prepared as we can.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenenet.com.

]]>