HADLEY — Only two recreational marijuana shops will be allowed in Hadley, but they won’t be able to open until at least mid-2019 based on decisions made by Town Meeting Thursday.
And voters, going against advice from the Planning Board, eliminated a section of the village overlay district bylaw, adopted in 2001, that prevents standing-seam metal roofs, which have conflicted with the effort to maintain a colonial-like appearance for buildings on Route 9 from Coolidge Bridge east to where the Norwottuck Rail Trail crosses.
Two bylaws that were expected to elicit strong opinions: a comprehensive zoning bylaw related to adult-use marijuana and a general bylaw that would have mandated businesses along a section of Route 9 do winter maintenance on a new sidewalk built this summer, were both passed over.
The cap on recreational marijuana shops is set based on a percentage of the number of package stores in town, which is currently seven. The measure passed 127-4.
In a unanimous vote, the moratorium on pot sales was extended from Nov. 30, 2018 until June 1, 2019, which will allow the Planning Board to set guidelines for selling and cultivating recreational marijuana, and to impose up to $300 fines for consumption of recreational marijuana on public ways.
At an earlier hearing, residents in the area of Shattuck Road expressed concern about a farmer who plans to grow marijuana crops. The Planning Board is trying to have more restrictive language in the bylaw related to lighting and odor that might impact neighbors, and determine whether a 300-foot setback is appropriate. Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski said this setback might limit any production to agricultural and residential areas.
Even though the new senior center will use shingles, Jane Nevinsmith, chairwoman of the Senior Center Building Committee, said that a metal roof would have been appropriate, pointing to Town Hall, the First Congregational Church and the Hooker School Building. “Everyone agrees a standing-seam roof is the best way to build right now,” Nevinsmith said.
Building Commissioner Timothy Neyhart said that metal roofs could save the town money, as they last longer and can be used to hold solar panels.
Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said the board should reexamine all design criteria for the village overlay district and “take up (revisions) as a whole, not piecemeal.”
The change in the bylaw, though, passed 85-39, achieving the two-thirds threshold by just two votes.
Voters agreed to make several capital purchases totaling $569,400, two of which will be subject to subsequent ballot votes. Those are an $85,000 dump truck for the Department of Public Works and $55,400 to buy a new walk-in freezer and cooler for Hopkins Academy.
Most discussion on these items centered around a $47,000 cruiser for the police, with Planning Board member John Mieczkowski observing what he calls a “junk yard” of old vehicles parked at the station. Police Chief Michael Mason explained these are spare vehicles used on road details, rather than for patrols.
Other articles passed include $61,000 in Community Preservation Act spending for gravestone work at cemeteries and fixing the steeple at the North Hadley Church, revising the municipal budget from $18.29 to $18.49 million, establishing a new revolving fund so the towns Park and Recreation Department can assume responsibility for the afterschool program, transferring $80,000 from sewer reserves to cover the cost of emergency sewer line repairs on Route 9, and revising a 1928 vote so the DPW can take over from the Cemetery Committee various cemetery maintenance.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
