he Wethersfield planning and zoning commission has approved a change to the zoning regulations to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the town center.
Rino Mozzicato, son of the bakery chain’s founders, applied for the zone change in January. A public hearing was held at the beginning of March.
Under the amendment, dispensaries are allowed by special permit on a narrow strip of the Silas Deane Highway called the town center zone. The dispensaries are prohibited within 1,000 feet of any school or house of worship.
The amendment also forbids any two dispensaries from being 1,000 feet from each other. With the zoning change, only seven parcels of land in the town center would be eligible as a dispensary site.
One of the seven parcels is already owned by Mozzicato. He called the parcel, at 725 Silas Deane Highway, a “possible opportunity.”
At Tuesday’s planning and zoning meeting, residents spoke both for and against the change, with many opposing the amendment.
“I’m against the changing of the zoning,” said resident John Bellovoda, who lives on Byrd Road, which abuts the property at 725 Silas Deane Highway. “I have two small kids and my oldest kid is 10 years old and just graduated from the D.A.R.E program that the town offers in the elementary school to teach the kids to stay away from drugs, alcohol and that kind of behavior. And opening a medical marijuana store next door to us is going to be ironic, it’s going to be confusing for the kids.”
Another resident, Kerry Coughlin, spoke in favor of approving the amendment so that people in Wethersfield who use marijuana for medical reasons don’t have to travel so far to get their prescription.
“I am here to show my support,” she said. “I am sort of an accidental advocate on this issue. In the past few years, I’ve worked with some patients with life-limiting illnesses. I keep hearing from people saying it’s not too far to go to Hartford or South Windsor … but imagine the inconvenience of having a life-limiting illness and having to do that.”
The application passed as the state Department of Consumer Protection plans to award licenses for at least three and as many as 10 new medical marijuana facilities to keep up with demand by the state’s growing number of medical marijuana patients. As of early February, 23,000 people statewide, including about 5,800 in Hartford County, were registered with the program.
The planning and zoning commission approved the amendment 5-4. Those in favor said they didn’t have any concerns and the area is already zoned to allow medical offices. Those opposed said they were concerned about the ramifications for the town and said there were other dispensaries close by.
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