Angry zoning board approves downtown marijuana shop just steps from two other proposed marijuana shops

The Zoning Board of Appeal contiguous approved a projected marijuana store astatine 21 Broad St. downtown, but members weren't blessed astir it.

The projected Rasta Rootz astatine 21 Milk St. would beryllium conscionable 222 feet from Tito Jackson's proposed Verdant Restorative store connected State Street and conscionable 888 feet from the existing Patriot Care store connected Milk Street, which lone a fewer days agone added recreational marijuana to the medicinal products it had been selling.

At contented for progressively frustrated committee members is simply a metropolis request that marijuana facilities beryllium astatine slightest a fractional mile apart, a request that the mayor's bureau started ignoring a mates years ago and which different metropolis officials, including the Boston Cannabis Board, routinely disregard arsenic well.

Board subordinate Mark Erlich said the committee is stuck successful "an intolerable situation" of "shifting sands" erstwhile it comes to marijuana zoning and he's truthful sick of it, helium abstained connected the Rasta Rootz proposal. Member Jeanne Pinado went further and voted to cull the proposal. The different 5 members, however, voted successful favor, truthful Rasta Rootz present goes to the authorities Cannabis Control Commission for the past support it needs to open.

Earlier successful the day, the committee approved a marijuana bakery connection successful Roslindale Square little than fractional a mile from a imaginable competitor.

Board Chairwoman Chrstine Araujo voted for the projected four-floor Broad Street shop, but said she wholly agreed with Erlich.

"We thin to beryllium the whipping boys, oregon the whipping people, for these shifting sands, wherever we conscionable extremity up being targeted, because, really, the subordinate stops with us." She continued, though, that erstwhile it comes to distancing betwixt cannabis shops, "nothing is clear, thing is satisfactory."

She said it mightiness marque cleanable consciousness for a dense country similar downtown to person respective marijuana shops adjacent each different successful a mode that it wouldn't enactment successful outlying vicinity concern districts, but the existent zoning codification makes nary distinction, and the committee gets conflicting messages from the mayor's office, the metropolis assembly and present the metropolis cannabis board. "Honestly, we're caught successful the middle," she said.

Last week, City Councilor Lydia Edwards (East Boston, North End, Charlestown) proposed eliminating the zoning board from marijuana considerations, saying the committee had failed wholly and that the cannabis committee would beryllium amended suited to justice proponents connected a bid of issues, including ones not having to woody with zoning, specified arsenic diversity. Part of her connection besides calls for making applicants beryllium to the cannabis committee what peculiar hardship makes them request to find wrong a fractional mile of different marijuana concern.

The spot manager of the neighboring 75 State Street bureau operation and Ari Gil, proprietor of the Ari Boston men's covering store connected Broad Street, some opposed the proposal.

Araujo chopped disconnected the spot manager erstwhile it appeared helium would beryllium arguing against the thought of marijuana income completely, truthful helium didn't truly get to explicate wherefore helium and his tenants don't privation a cookware store adjacent door.

Gill said helium is disquieted astir loitering connected the thoroughfare and successful a tiny courtyard helium shares with the projected site. He said helium and his workers already person to woody with "dozens of people" coming successful and asking for directions and said he's acrophobic he'd commencement getting adjacent much of that erstwhile the marijuana marketplace opens.