Some of Somerville’s medical marijuana dispensaries have been applying for permits to also sell recreational-use marijuana over the last few years.
Of the 12 stores in the city, half have been approved for a local license and a special permit, two have been approved for just a local license, and four dispensaries, namely: Liberty Cannabis (Holistic Industries), GreenSoul Organics, Botanica and Core Empowerment, have only filed their applications with the city to get approved.
Below is a map of the dispensaries across the city — green: fully approved, orange: in the process of applying, yellow: half-approved.
What does the process of applying look like?
As of 2020, all marijuana dispensaries across the city are required to comply with two procedures approved by the city:
- Obtain a license from the Somerville Licensing Commission (SLC), which helps to approve and issue licenses for all forms of businesses, including but not limited to: restaurants (with and without alcohol services), package stores, private clubs, farmer pourers, inns, recreational marijuana dealers, etc., and
- Obtain a license from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), which requires marijuana establishments to complete local approval before filing through the state
At the local level, dispensaries like Liberty Cannabis, Botanica, and Green Soul Organics filed a Host Community Agreement (HCA), through the mayor’s Marijuana Advisory Committee (MAC), a group of five city officials who understand Somerville’s regulations surrounding licensing, zoning practices, health and human services, and policing — according to the city’s website — but they have yet to make it to the next round of the application process.
Zoning Ordinances
The city’s zoning ordinances require any and all dispensaries that are currently able to sell medical marijuana and are applying for recreational-use licenses to do the following:
- Dispensaries must be located at least 300 feet from any educational services (including pre-primary, primary, or secondary school)
- Establishments cannot occupy more than 10,000 square feet of floor space
- Signage regarding sales of cannabis products must comply with city laws
The special permits review board also has the ability to approve or deny establishments’ location, visibility, and design for their storefronts, and access to all through-way traffic including pedestrians, bikers, and vehicles.
Why should you care?
The marijuana industry is truly budding (pun intended).
“In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the U.S. to legalize cannabis for adult use … Since April of this year, 18 states plus Washington D.C. and Guam (a United States territory) have legalized recreational marijuana,” Leafly, a leading cannabis expert website reported.
In Massachusetts, as of Jan. 1, 2020, both the business of selling and using recreational marijuana “opened for business,” for adults over 21-years-old, according to Leafly.
Additionally, just this month, the state appointed five new members to its Cannabis Advisory Board, which “studies and makes recommendations to the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) regarding the regulation and taxation of marijuana in Massachusetts,” a press release from the Office of the State Treasurer, said.
“I am confident they will have a meaningful impact on the regulation of the cannabis industry across our state,” Deborah B. Goldberg, the state’s treasurer, said.
The board is made up of 25 marijuana experts, and the five new members have expertise in “marijuana cultivation, marijuana retailing, marijuana product manufacturing, laboratory sciences, toxicology, and providing legal services to marijuana businesses,” the press release continued.
Each of the dispensaries also gets to hold a virtual neighborhood meeting to discuss the communities’ needs and wants as well as to poll the community for their consensus surrounding the establishment’s application.
On Wednesday, Oct. 27, Botanica, located in Ball Square, will be having their neighborhood meeting via Zoom at 6:30 p.m.
This is the first installment in a series of stories about the city of Somerville’s marijuana industry.
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