Mansfield Town Meeting Says Yes To Recreational Marijuana Zoning

MANSFIELD, MA — Marijuana business are still legal in Mansfield, but you can't say the same for plastic shopping bags.

A pair of zoning bylaws - one for the sale of recreational marijuana and another for recreational marijuana cultivation, passed Town Meeting Tuesday night. The cultivation district is in the area of School Street and retail sales will be allowed in Erin Plaza, Mansfield Crossing, and in the smaller shopping areas on School Street right off of Route 140.

The vote makes Mansfield one of the few towns in the area to allow the sale of the recreational version of the drug. While Sharon recently shot down a ban, nearby towns like Foxborough, Wrentham, Walpole, and Stoughton have passed bans on marijuana businesses.

A citizen petition to ban all marijuana businesses in Mansfield did not pass. In other marijuana votes, the recreational marijuana moratorium was extended to June 2019, pending approval from the state Attorney General's office

A 3 percent tax on all recreational marijuana sold in town also passed.

All rules and regulations for recreational marijuana do not impact medical marijuana, which are regulated though a separate set of rules.

A zoning change to allow for a gas station on the empty lot next to Benny's and another to bring more residential development to the southbound side of the train tracks near the train station failed. Both were citizen petition from development Bill Clemmey, who withdrew a proposal to change the zoning of a small parcel of land behind Shaw's on West Street and a proposed zoning change which would allow retail on the corner of West Street and Route 140.

Town Meeting voters also passed a plastic bag ban for retailers.

Image: File Photo