See Where Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Could be Placed in Newton

Monday night, the Board of Aldermen approved zoning for medical marijuana dispensaries in Newton that would restrict them to commercial zones outside of village centers.

The vote was 21-1, with Alderman Leonard Gentile casting the lone "no" vote. 

For a dispensary to come to Newton, it will have to get a special permit and it  would be restricted to Business 2, Business 5 and Mixed Use 1 Areas which are areas that are not in village centers, according to the report from the Board of Aldermen.

Under Massachusetts law, the dispensaries cannot be within 500 feet of schools, daycares and other places where children congregate, nor can they be within 500 feet of a house of worship.

Newton had a moratorium on marijuana dispensaries coming to town, which was set to end at the end of the year. The Alderman's Zoning & Planning Committee approved end of the moratorium and supported the zoning changees last month. The committee spent several months discussing issues around marijuana dispensaries and held two public hearings.

The state law approved 35 dispensaries for Massachusetts with a maximum of five per county. In Middlesex County, a preliminary list of 47 applicants was narrowed to 17 in phase 2 of the process. Two list Newton as a place where they would seek to start a facility. In early 2014, the list of groups that receive provisional licenses to open dispensaries will be announced, according to information on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health website. Click here to see more.