Nantucket held a Special Town Meeting on October 10 primarily to address the soon-to-end moratorium on the sale of recreational marijuana. Since the state has legalized marijuana, each community must come up with a plan for medical and recreational facilities under state regulations. Nantucket voted to limit the number of recreational stores to 2 on the island. This number represents 20 percent of the number of licenses for year-round liquor stores. The article was amended by a citizen to require that the stores must be a minimum of 2,000 feet apart, which passed. Dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of a school or day care center. An amendment was proposed, that subsequently did not pass, to dictate the same distance from a “public park, playground, or recreational facility or personal services establishment providing activities or services primarily for children”. One of the applicants, called Green Lady, for a recreational facility is well along in the permitting process.
Unfortunately, there was a lack of quorum at the meeting which meant that the articles that dealt with spending money were not able to be voted on. Most of these had to do with traffic and road improvements on Old South Road and they will be brought back to a future town meeting. These spending articles are on the November 6th ballot for voters to decide.