Written by The Planning Board is holding public hearings next Wednesday, May 2, in the lower conference room of Town Hall to discuss two significant articles being proposed for the June 4 Annual Town Meeting warrant. I encourage anyone interested in either of these issues to attend and have your voices heard.
At 7 p.m., the Planning Board will hold a public hearing on a proposed temporary moratorium on multi-family dwelling units. I applaud the Planning Board for taking this issue on head first, by proposing we pump the brakes and take a year to see how recent changes to our local development patterns will affect community character, existing neighborhoods, and town infrastructure. The warrant article would call for a one-year (until July 1, 2019) moratorium on multi-family dwellings, here defined as a building containing three or more dwelling units.
At 7:15 p.m., there’s a public hearing on a proposed recreational marijuana establishments bylaw. Recreational marijuana (as opposed to medical marijuana, for which we already have a bylaw on the books) has been in the news a lot lately, so you’re probably familiar and have an opinion one way or another. As far as I’m concerned, the town overwhelmingly supported recreational marijuana in the 2016 election, approving Question 4 by more than 900 votes, and that decision should be respected. Recreational marijuana is obviously something the majority of Clintonians want, and it could provide a tremendous revenue stream for the town at a time when it is sorely needed.
But even if you oppose recreational marijuana, this bylaw is important because, without it, our town will have no say in what kind of establishments we want. We need to get this one right.
Please come out on May 2 and learn more about these two important potential warrant articles.
Sean Kerrigan, Clinton Select Board 