State AG Pushing Natick To Act On Marijuana Businesses

Natick is one of three towns whose moratoriums on marijuana businesses was rejected Monday by State Attorney General Maura Healey. The attorney general's Municipal Law Unit also struck down measures passed by Plympton and Rochester that would have extended freezes on pot shops and other licensed marijuana facilities into 2019.

Natick's moratorium expires in January; after that the town must start accepting applications from marijuana firms. Natick already has approved the necessary zoning.

Town Meeting approved four locations in October for recreational marijuana businesses. An industrial marijuana establishment district was approved around the East Natick Industrial Park, two retail marijuana districts were approved along Rte. 9 and another retail district around the intersection of Rte. 30 and Speen Street.

The extension would have given Natick until June 30 to start accepting applications.

The attorney general's office said in a statement that moratorium extensions must be tied to an ongoing planning process. In Natick's case, the town has fulfilled the planning process requirement and approved zoning locations so the extension was not justified.

Town Administrator Melissa Malone said the extension is needed to ensure that the town had sufficient time to implement the steps between the zoning and licensing process. "I think there is a lot of interest (from marijuana firms) in the commonwealth in general. We just want to make sure the proper steps are being taken," she said.

Malone added that the licensing process for marijuana firms will go through the board of selectmen during their public meetings.

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