The following is a brief summary of the January 10, 2019 public meeting concerning the request for a zoning variance by Compassionate Organics for the storefront located at 633 Tremont Street.
A public meeting was held at the AC Hotel on Albany Street in the South End, facilitated by a representative of Mayor Walsh. Mike Ross and his team made a brief presentation and then the floor was opened up for comments and questions.
The turnout was huge—over 150 people—and there were many out in the hallway. In 80 minutes of comments and questions, there were four comments in support, and over twenty-five expressions of opposition, many quite passionate.
One person, without expressing an explicit viewpoint, asked a question based on the legally required buffer zone of ½ mile between cannabis establishments. Ross suggested in his presentation, that this requirement would mean that if 633 Tremont were given a zoning variance, much of the South End would be protected against other, possibility less desirable, marijuana businesses. The questioner asked whether Compassionate Organics would withdraw its application and not seek an additional variance to the buffer zone, if the proposed store at 591 Albany Street was approved by the ZBA. The answer was non-committal; they would decide how to proceed, if this happened.
The subject matter seemed to draw in a huge number of people who came there organically — meaning this was an issue that lots of residents who don't necessarily get involved in local stuff felt compelled to attend. By the end, Ross was asserting that the number of South Enders who had voted to legalize medical marijuana were at work or otherwise too busy to show up— a theory that did not go down well with the audience.
If a goal was to send a message to the applicants and the City that abutters, near neighbors and residents/stakeholders are overwhelmingly opposed to a cannabis establishment at 633 Tremont - mission accomplished.
Our civic representatives were invited to make statements, initially. City Councilor Ed Flynn, representing the immediate abutting residents in the Ellis, Pilot Block and Villa Victoria neighborhoods, stated his firm opposition to the location, based on his conversations with many of the abutting neighbors, the obvious safety issues on Tremont St., the lack of adequate infrastructure of the location to mitigate the issues of lines of customers outside the establishment, double-parking, delivery, etc. Our State Representatives, Aaron Michlewitz and Jon Santiago, expressed concerns with the location, as well. Rep. Santiago, cited traffic, street safety and the potential impact on vulnerable populations.
Based on comments, a leading driver of opposition is concern about traffic and parking, specifically customers double-parking and making Tremont Street even more congested with traffic and more dangerous to pedestrians trying to cross than it already is. Neighbor after neighbor attested to how traffic safety is already a major problem and few seemed to believe that 633 could/would honor its stated intention to prevent people from double-parking. One neighbor emphasized the number of Uber/Lyft rides would increase and would add to the congestion on the small side streets as they circled the block waiting for customers to come back out after their 5 minutes purchase.
Another woman spoke of how her greatest fear in the world for her child is his getting struck by a car while crossing Tremont Street, and a father described yanking his kid by the arm out of the path of an oblivious motorist. (Note: we have had at least three pedestrian deaths on Tremont in the past 4 years, just between W. Brookline and Union Park, alone. Tremont St. has officially been recognized as dangerous and the City is leading a redesign effort with the collaboration of SE residents.)
A number of people argued that a marijuana business is just not appropriate in a residential neighborhood, where a large number of children live and go to school/daycare nearby. They noted that the zoning is for Residential/Local Services only and that Compassionate Organics would be a destination for people coming from all over the city, if they were to open in the next year. The fact that Tremont Street is not zoned as a commercial district but a residential one was emphasized over and over. Individuals who spoke stated that there were commercial areas around the South End that did not require the same kind of zoning variance that is needed in a residential area.
The Senior Director of Youth Programs at St. Stephen's Church on Shawmut said that many neighborhood children and teens attend her program, and it has spent the last 10+ years helping these children make good life choices. She was gravely concerned about the impact of a marijuana store just a couple of blocks from the program on a street where youth travel daily.
An immediate abutter, and others, expressed extreme skepticism that Compassionate Organics could/would honor its stated commitment to make no use of the alley. A woman who resides a few doors down from 633 feared her stoop would become a trash receptacle/hang-out spot for 633 clientele, just as it already is for the liquor store next door.
In his presentation, Ross reiterated that Compassionate Organics' plan is to open as a medical marijuana dispensary, prove itself to the neighborhood for at least six months, then seek an adult use license. Only a few audience comments touched on the recreational nature of this proposal, but one person questioned why they would wait such a short time before they applied for recreational approval. Ross answered that medical marijuana sales were already seeing a downturn; as more recreational stores open, fewer people with medical needs are paying for the medical registration card and are choosing to purchase their cannabis through the recreational stores, as it is less expensive. He said that in order to have viable businesses, medical marijuana stores will have to expand to recreational.
The 3—4 comments in support were largely to the effect that medical marijuana is a legitimate thing and there's no reason it should not be in a neighborhood's main business district. Perhaps the most compelling was from a resident living at Mass Ave and Columbus who identified himself as a patient taking medical marijuana and said a dispensary nearby would make a material positive difference in his life and others similarly situated in the neighborhood.
Notwithstanding the strong feelings, with only a couple brief exceptions, people were respectful of other residents' right to speak their minds without interruption, which was heartening.
Next Steps:
A Zoning Board of Appeals hearing will be scheduled in the next several months.
Before that is scheduled, it is very important that you write letters of opinion ASAP to the list of people we've given you over the last year
We cannot-overemphasize the importance of your individual voices to your civic representatives, including the Mayor.
If you would like to write individual letters of opinion, for or against, the use variance at 633 Tremont, below are the city contacts.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEAL
Regular Mail:
Zoning Board of Appeal
Inspectional Services
1010 Massachusetts Ave, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02118
Email: Administrator for ZBA-STEPHANIE.HAYNES@BOSTON.GOV
BOSTON CITY COUNCILORS AT LARGE
Emails:
Annissa Essaibi George A.E.GEORGE@BOSTON.GOV
Michael Flaherty MICHAEL.F.FLAHERTY@BOSTON.GOV
Ayanna Pressley AYANNA.PRESSLEY@BOSTON.GOV
Michelle Wu MICHELLE.WU@BOSTON.GOV
CITY COUNCILOR for DISTRICT 2
Email: Ed Flynn ED.FLYNN@BOSTON.GOV
Office: 617-635-3203.
Websiteis https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/ed-flynn
Twitter@Edforboston.
Facebook @Edforboston. https://m.facebook.com/EdforBoston/
Mayor's liaison to the South End and Bay Village
Email: Faisa Sharif FAISA.SHARIF@BOSTON.GOV
Mayor Martin J. Walsh
Email: MAYOR@BOSTON.GOV
Regular Mail:
1 CITY HALL SQUARE, SUITE 500
BOSTON, MA 02201-2013
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