West Newbury Planning Board Reviews Draft Marijuana Zoning and Parking Bylaws

WEST NEWBURY — November 18, 2025 — West Newbury Planning Board reviews draft marijuana zoning bylaw and new parking standards. Building Commissioner Sam Jocelyn presented both documents at the November 18 meeting as preliminary drafts drawn largely from model bylaws used by other Massachusetts communities. The key unresolved issue in the cannabis overlay district is a state-default 500-foot school setback that would render any business-district location off-limits, because churches there operate preschools; Jocelyn warned the board that a bylaw that allows an establishment in principle but prohibits it through a conflicting setback "is invalid." On the marijuana exposure question, Jocelyn was direct: as a yes community with no zoning bylaw in place, West Newbury could be forced to treat a marijuana retailer as ordinary retail, with none of the security, hours, or odor-control restrictions the draft would impose. The board also converged on a proposed nine-member master plan steering committee — Planning Board, Select Board, Conservation Commission, Parks and Recreation, Open Space, and three citizens at large, plus Town Planner Christopher Riley as ex officio — with a formal committee charge targeted for adoption at the December 2 meeting.