Pot, Parking and Special Education: What to Know About Arlington's 'Special Town Meeting'

ARLINGTON - If you haven't had enough of Town Meeting, tomorrow, April 26, kicks off another set of voting as Town Meeting Members begin the first night of the "Special" Town Meeting. On the agenda? Potential adjustments to parking, a proposed moratorium on recreational marijuana establishments, and special education. It could get interesting.

Town Meeting is the Legislative branch of Arlington and is made up of 252 elected representatives from 21 precincts around town. Those are the folks who will be voting this week. The magic starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Here's a run down of the warrants taken from the Arlington Town website:

STM ARTICLE 1

ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/DEFINITIONS
STM ARTICLE 1

ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/DEFINITIONS

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to change the definition of "Open Space, Usable" by reducing the required horizontal dimension, to allow for incentives for surface parking at newly-constructed single, two-family, duplex or three-family dwellings; or take any action related thereto.

STM ARTICLE 1

ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/DEFINITIONS

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to change the definition of "Open Space, Usable" by reducing the required horizontal dimension, to allow for incentives for surface parking at newly-constructed single, two-family, duplex or three-family dwellings; or take any action related thereto.

STM ARTICLE 1

ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/DEFINITIONS

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to change the definition of "Open Space, Usable" by reducing the required horizontal dimension, to allow for incentives for surface parking at newly-constructed single, two-family, duplex or three-family dwellings; or take any action related thereto.

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to change the definition of "Open Space, Usable" by reducing the required horizontal dimension, to allow for incentives for surface parking at newly-constructed single, two-family, duplex or three-family dwellings; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager on behalf of the Residential Study Group)

STM ARTICLE 2

ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

MORATORIUM
To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town’s Zoning Bylaws by adding a new section 11.10, TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENTS, which would provide as follows, and further to amend the Table of Contents to add Section 11.10, “Temporary Moratorium on Recreational Marijuana Establishments.”

Section 11.10.1 Purpose
By vote at the State election on November 8, 2016, the voters of the Commonwealth approved a law regulating the cultivation, processing, distribution, possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes (G.L. c. 94G, “Regulation of the Use and Distribution of Marijuana Not Medically Prescribed”). Effective December 15, 2016, the law allowed certain personal use and possession of marijuana, and further requires the Cannabis Control Commission to issue regulations regarding the licensing of commercial marijuana activities on or before March 15, 2018, and subsequently, to accept license applications for commercial operations beginning on April 1, 2018. Non-medical Marijuana Establishments as defined by G.L. c. 94 are not otherwise contemplated or addressed under the present Zoning Bylaw. The regulations to be promulgated by the Cannabis Control Commission may provide important guidance on aspects of local regulation of Recreational Marijuana Establishments, as well as details on how the Town may further restrict commercial sales of recreational marijuana by local ballot questions. Moreover, the regulation of recreational marijuana raises novel legal, planning and public safety issues, potentially necessitating time to study and consider study and consider the regulation of Recreational Marijuana Establishments and address such issues, as well as to address the potential impact of the aforementioned State regulations on local zoning; and to undertake a planning process to consider amending the Zoning Bylaw regarding regulation of Recreational Marijuana Establishments. The Town intends to adopt a temporary moratorium on the use of land and structures in the Town for Recreational Marijuana Establishments so as to allow the Town sufficient time to engage in a planning process to address the effects of such structures and uses in the Town and to adopt provisions of the Zoning Bylaw in a manner consistent with sound land use planning goals and objectives.

11.10.2 Definitions
“Recreational Marijuana Establishment” shall mean a non-medical “marijuana cultivator, marijuana testing facility, marijuana product manufacturer, marijuana retailer or any other type of licensed marijuana-related business.”

11.10.3 Temporary Moratorium
For the reasons set forth above and notwithstanding any other provision of the Zoning Bylaw to the contrary, the Town hereby adopts a temporary moratorium on the use of land or structures for Recreational Marijuana Establishments. The moratorium shall be in effect through June 30, 2018, or until such time as the Town adopts Zoning Bylaw amendments that regulate Recreational Marijuana Establishments, whichever occurs earlier. During the moratorium period, the Town shall undertake a planning process to address the potential impacts of recreational marijuana in the Town, consider the Cannabis Control Commission regulations regarding Recreational Marijuana Establishments and related uses, and shall consider adopting new Zoning Bylaws in response to these new issues.

11.10.4 Severability
The provisions of this by-law are severable. If any provision, paragraph, sentence, or clause of this bylaw or the application thereof to any person, establishment, or circumstances shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or application of this bylaw.”
Or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

STM ARTICLE 3

APPROPRIATION/CAPITAL BUDGET/ HARDY SCHOOL CAPACITY EXPANSION

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for capacity expansion, temporary or permanent, at the Hardy school building, determine how the money shall be raised and expended, including the possibility of borrowing all or some of the same; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

STM ARTICLE 4

APPROPRIATION/CAPITAL BUDGET/GIBBS SCHOOL RENOVATION

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for renovation, temporary or permanent, at the Gibbs school building, determine how the money shall be raised and expended, including the possibility of borrowing all or some of the same; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

STM ARTICLE 5

TRANSFER OF FUNDS/SPECIAL EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND

To see if the Town will vote to transfer a sum of money between the Special Education Stabilization Fund and the Arlington Public Schools in accordance with the provisions of the General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 5B, as amended, or other appropriate provisions of law; determine how much money should be transferred into or out of such Stabilization Fund; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Arlington School Committee)