The proposal that’s currently on the table calls for a 200-foot buffer between marijuana establishments and any school or child care center; for odor control; security measures; discreet signage, and more. Marijuana retail would be allowed in the downtown business, highway business, and mixed-use mill zones with a special permit. Cultivators, manufacturers, and testing labs would be allowed in the industrial zone with site plan approval, and in the mill district with a special permit.

Among potential city businesses, a recent business school graduate says she hopes to open a “Cannabis Cafe” in the Pleasant Street mill district.

While the Planning Board ultimately included language in its proposal to allow “social consumption,” city planning staff noted that there was no consensus on the matter, and recommended “greater debate at City Council.”