The Town of Warren’s Planning Board voted 5-1 in approval of an ordinance that creates zoning restrictions for recreational marijuana businesses — which will go into effect only in the event that Warren voters approve the commercial sale of recreational marijuana in town during next week’s election.

The ordinance breaks down the various recreational marijuana commercial opportunities, including potential licensed cultivators, retail shops, and cannabis testing facilities, all of which could in theory operate in Warren if voters approve the upcoming ballot measure.

It should be noted, however, that only six retail marijuana licenses will be handed out by the state for the zone that Warren is located in — which also includes the municipalities of Barrington, Bristol, East Providence, Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Block Island, Pawtucket, Portsmouth, and Tiverton. So there is no guarantee that a retail cannabis shop location hoping to open in Warren will actually receive one of those coveted licenses.

It should be further noted that state regulators and those operating in the existing medicinal marijuana space have also predicted that there likely won’t be any recreational cannabis licenses handed out until at least 2024, due to how long the process will take to materialize.

What’s in Warren’s zoning?
Warren’s ordinance includes much of the same language from the legislation passed by the state back in May that legalized recreational cannabis use in the first place, combined with the existing ordinance on the books regarding medical marijuana.

Any potential retail marijuana shop would not be allowed within 500 feet of a school or within 100 feet of the nearest residential zoning district, and any marijuana cultivator would not be allowed within 1,000 feet of a school or 100 feet within the nearest residential area.

The ordinance mandates that each recreational marijuana business must go through a special use permitting process, which includes the presenting of plans to create adequate lighting and the implementation of a comprehensive security plan (approved by the Warren Police Department) prior to being accepted. That security plan includes providing the phone number of the operations manager and general manager of the business to the state police, local police, and surrounding business owners so that any issues after hours can be adequately reported.

Board strikes waterfront from eligibility
The planning board elected to utilize their power of local control in one area that differed from the originally-proposed ordinance. They voted to strike down any potential recreational marijuana business (cultivators, retail shops, or laboratory testing facilities) from the waterfront district — meaning even if voters approve commercial marijuana in Warren, you won’t be seeing a pot shop open up on Water Street.

Overall, recreational marijuana cultivators would be allowed to operate only in the village business/downtown district, the general business district, the special district where Tourister is located, manufacturing districts, commercial/industrial districts, and rural business districts.

Permitted zoning for marijuana retail shops mirrors that of cultivators, with the exception that it would not be allowed in the special zoning district where the Tourister is situated.

Cannabis testing laboratories would only be allowed under town zoning in manufacturing and commercial/industrial zones.