TEWKSBURY — The Tewksbury Planning Board met on Monday, July 17, 2023, at town hall to review several applications for proposed retail marijuana sites. The three proponents, all of whom attended the Select Board’s first round of licensing hearings, were the last remaining of initial eight applicants to receive approval from the Planning Board.
The number of retail marijuana licenses was calculated at 20 percent of the number of the town’s off-premises liquor licenses; with seven off-premises liquor licenses, the number rounds up to three marijuana licenses. Changes to the town’s zoning bylaw and general bylaw at Town Meeting last October allowed for the sale of retail marijuana with the Select Board as the permit-granting authority.
The state allows municipalities to impose a maximum three percent tax on retail marijuana sales; revenues generated from the tax would go to the town’s general fund. The zoning bylaw allows retail operations in four zones within the town: the General Business District (Lowell Line-655 Main St.), South Village Business District (1900 Main St. – Wilmington Line), Industrial 2 (Rockland/Hillman/Washington streets and East/Carter streets), and the Interstate Overlay District (Interchanges of Rt. 495 & 93).
The board revisited a discussion on a site plan review and land…