SOUTHWICK – During Tuesday night’s Southwick town election, residents had the opportunity to vote on whether to approve a zoning bylaw and a general bylaw that would prohibit non-medical marijuana retailers from operating in town.
After the polls closed at 8 p.m., it was determined by a vote of 452-360 that non-medical marijuana retail stores will be prohibited from being located and operating in Southwick.
Southwick Town Hall. (WNG File Photo)
According to Alan Slessler, who is the Town Planner, the outcome of the vote affects a number of warrant articles involving marijuana that are on the agenda for the annual town meeting on May 15. A couple of the warrant articles will now have to be revised to accommodate the result of the vote on the ballot question.
A marijuana sub-committee worked for six months on developing a marijuana bylaw in order to meet the state’s standards, Slessler pointed out. He also noted that the attendance at the public hearings wasn’t what he had hoped for.
“I understood it was going to be a big impact on residents, but it wasn’t a really good turnout,” said Slessler. “It seemed like there was more turnout last night than there had been input all year long.”
In the weeks leading up to the vote on Tuesday, Slesser said that he had several people calling him about the potential for marijuana retail stores operating in Southwick and had questions about what that entailed, and where they could be located.
Out of the 865 votes in total that were casted for the town election on Tuesday, 812 voting residents voted on the ballot question concerning non-medical marijuana retail.
