Burlington Residents Oppose Medical Marijuana Dispensary Location

BURLINGTON, MA -- The Burlington Planning Board held its first public hearing Thursday night for the only medical marijuana dispensary in town, which is being proposed for 64 Blanchard Road. That's not sitting well with residents of nearby apartment complexes, including the Reserve, the Village at Seven Springs, Holly Glen, as well as residents on Eugene Road, who say they are worried about increased traffic and impaired drivers going to and from the dispensary on Blanchard Road, which winds through a neighborhood full of kids.

At Thursday's planning board, residents were told that the 64 Blanchard Road property is one of the few places in town where a medical marijuana dispensary can be located following a recent change to the zoning rules that prohibits the location of such facilities within 1,000 feet of places where children regularly congregate. Under the old rules, the buffer was 500 feet.

"What came out at the meeting is that although it can't be within 1000 feet of where children congregate, it can be next door to where children live and play," said Linda Turner, who lives in Seven Springs and attended Thursday's meeting. "We are not opposed to a dispensary in the town, but we feel that it should not be located on an already busy, dark, windy road without sidewalks, and so close to residential neighborhoods. Why not a Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington Mall Road or Cambridge Street location?"

The planning board is considering an approval of a special permit for the facility, which is being built and operated by Mission Massachusetts Inc. and would be located in a section of town zoned for general industrial uses. The board of selectmen had previously approved a host agreement in September 2015, which was reissued in 2017. Mission still needs approval from the Burlington Conservation Commission, which meets Thursday, as its property sits on wetlands.

Officials from the planning department and Mission Massachusetts were not immediately available for comment Monday. According to documents filed with the state, Mission wants to open the facility by March; the company is projecting steadily increasing revenues, with projections of $5.3 million in fiscal 2018, $8.3 million in fiscal 2019 and $10.9 million in fiscal 2020.

The plan calls for razing existing buildings on the lot and building a new, two-story, 4,300-square-foot building on the site. The dispensary would employ 15 people is is expected to draw 106,000 visits each year.

Turner said traffic is already bad in the area, especially since Oracle opened a parking garage nearby last year. The dispensary would be open from 10 am to 7 pm, seven days a week. The property is located close to Mary Cummings Park, as well as a bike path in the nearby apartment complexes. There are also several nearby school bus stops.

"None of this was taken into consideration," Turner said.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).