Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty has re-introduced a zoning text amendment to limit the number of marijuana shops in a certain geographic area. Flaherty is calling for no more than one shop per one mile radius.
This makes sense to us.
Boston is called a walkable city. For those of us who call Boston home, walking or taking the MBTA is the preferred method of travel. No neighborhood seems that far out of the way.
We are not going to debate either the existing medical marijuana legalization or the potential of legalized recreational marijuana that seems headed for the ballot.
What we are saying is that Boston is one of the few cities that is able to limit the number of ‘pot’ shops in an area. We do not need to have these shops as ubiquitous as liquor stores.
We commend Flaherty for starting the process of assessing how many shops can be located in our neighborhoods. We now have the luxury of time to craft the language and restrictions that will stand the test of the courts, as these shops start seeking locations to sell their wares or should we say ‘weed’.
The old adage “act in haste, repent in leisure” should not be applied in this case as the very core of our neighborhoods is at stake.