Preston PZC to hold public hearing Tuesday night on cannabis regulations
Sep. 26—PRESTON — The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday on proposed zoning regulations that would allow adult recreational cannabis retail or manufacturing facilities in certain zones by special exception permits.
The hearing will follow a public hearing on a proposed six-lot subdivision at 39 Doolittle Road at the commission's 7 p.m. meeting at Preston Plains Middle School. The commission is scheduled to vote on both applications later in the meeting.
After enacting two six-month moratoriums on allowing cannabis facilities, the commission voted in August to propose regulations allowing both retail and cultivation facilities. The town would require a 1,000-foot distance between them and any municipal building, public park or recreational facility, school, nursery school or childcare or adult daycare center, substance abuse treatment facility or place of worship.
Cultivation facilities would be restricted to industrial zones, along Route 2 near the Norwich border and along routes 2A and 117 in Hallville, where a former mill is located.
Retail cannabis outlets would be limited to the commercial zones, which are scattered throughout town; the Resort Commercial zone along Route 2 near the Ledyard border and the Thames River Zone, which encompasses the former Norwich Hospital property and land around it, to a point on Route 12 south of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge intersection.
If the regulations are approved, any proposed cannabis application would require a special exception permit, which would require a public hearing.
Copies of the public hearing applications are available on the Preston town website, www.preston-ct.org or at the Planning and Zoning office at Town Hall. Written comments on the public hearing items can be submitted by email to kwarzecha@preston-ct.org prior to the public hearing.
