Corrected and updated April 10, 2018
Following an April 2 public hearing, the Planning Board is making significant alterations to the marijuana bylaws proposed for consideration at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting. The bylaws are becoming significantly more permissive, with the bylaw covering sales in the commercial district changing to allow an additional retailer, while the bylaw covering growing in the agricultural/residential (AR) district will now permit the construction of greenhouses.
At the public hearing, the Planning Board received comment on both marijuana bylaws from several interested parties, including current residents interested in growing cannabis, nonresidents considering moving to town, and representatives of the Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council (MRCC). Prospective grower Lucas Thayer protested the proposed bylaw covering the limit of one marijuana retailer in the commercial district, on the grounds that a town-enforced monopoly would inhibit competition. MRCC representative Kommani Jefferson added that in other states, when towns have restricted retail sales below the market’s demand, temporary shortages and drops in quality have led consumers to turn to illegal sellers, hurting legitimate business and town revenues. MRCC representative Marcus Upshaw further explained that there are vast differences between different marijuana strains, and that small retailers, especially those that grow their own product or partner with small growers, often carry a small number of strains. This means that consumers may demand more varieties of marijuana than one retailer is likely to stock.
Planning Board member Rich Maiore countered by reminding attendees that a retailer is opening in Ayer, not far from Harvard’s commercial district, meaning that the number of retailers within Harvard should not be taken in a vacuum, and he cautioned that it would be far easier to increase the limit on retailers in the future than to reduce it. Planning Board member Stacia Donahue noted that when drafting the bylaw, the limit had originally been set at two retailers but had been lowered to one following the results of an online survey with very few responses. However, at the hearing this week, the board decided to increase the limit on retailers from one to two, but changed the wording of the limit to include all marijuana establishments within the commercial district, rather than only retailers.
Greenhouses return
After making the above change to the commercial district bylaw, discussion moved to the bylaw restricting activity in the agricultural/residential (AR) district that encompasses the majority of the town, which originally forbade the use of greenhouses. Thayer and MRCC representatives vehemently opposed this restriction on the grounds that it would severely inhibit the viability of growing in the town. Thayer explained the system of growing that best aligns with New England’s climate, which involves putting the plants in greenhouses during some months and leaving them outside during others, while using both electric lighting and light-blocking tarps to strictly control their access to light. MRCC representatives also brought up the danger of cross-pollination, in which different strains of plants, if left outdoors and close to each other during particular seasons, may be cross-pollinated by insects, ruining large batches of the product. They suggested that the use of greenhouses would be important to safeguard against this. They also suggested that allowing the construction of multiple greenhouses was important, as different strains require different growing conditions.
Board members agreed to lift the restriction preventing the construction of greenhouses in the AR district. Following a discussion on how to limit the size of the greenhouses, the board decided to use the state Cannabis Commission’s categorization of overall product production rather than directly regulating greenhouse size. The state divides growers into 11 tiers based on the square footage used to cultivate the product. Planning Board members settled on allowing operations up to Tier 2, which corresponds to 10,000 square feet of total growing space, indoor or outdoor. Maiore noted that this square footage would be similar to the size of existing barns in town. While attendees at the meeting favored allowing cultivation of up to the state maximum of 100,000 square feet, Planning Board members expressed concern that the large opaque fences necessary to screen that much marijuana from public view would be both an eyesore and a nuisance to wildlife. When addressing lighting concerns, MRCC representatives said that the same tarps used to block sunlight from the plants could also be used when electric lighting was on to prevent the light from causing a nuisance to neighbors.
During this time, nonresident Jack Boyle also spoke in favor of allowing greenhouses. Boyle grows marijuana to help his wife, Dr. Susan Lucas, control her seizures, and has partnered with Massachusetts Cannabis Research Laboratories in Framingham to help research effective strains and doses for seizure control. Their story received state press coverage during the campaign for legalization in 2016. He said that depending on how the voting turned out, he might move to Harvard to pursue growing here.
The changes made as a result of the hearing are not final; the board plans to hammer out additional details at later meetings and will take into account additional feedback received before the May 5 Annual Town Meeting, where townspeople will vote on the proposed bylaw changes.
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected and updated. In the original article, the MRCC representative who explained that there are differences between different marijuana strains was identified as Joe Gilmore. The representative was actually Marcus Upshaw.
