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Back Bay resident says proposed Newbury Street pot shop behind his home wouldn't be a good doobie, sues to block it
By adamg on Wed, 10/23/2024 - 10:03am
A Commonwealth Avenue resident whose condo backs up to the Newbury Street location of yet another proposed dispensary says the idea goes against city zoning codes and would help diminish the neighborhood and his property in so many ways, including through the generation of "noxious odors."
In a suit filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, Richard Bendetson says the Zoning Board of Appeal last month improperly granted variances needed by Ember Gardens for its proposed shop at 297 Newbury St. because the proposed space has none of the "hardships" required by the city zoning code, such as being on an unusually shaped or sloped lot.
Because the board's decision - officially recorded Oct. 8 - is "legally untenable" and an "abuse of discretion, arbitrary, capricious" and a violation of city and state zoning requirements, Bendetson is formally seeking a court order throwing out the approval.
Bendetson cited in particular the variance granted for a city regulation that requires a half-mile buffer between marijuana establishments, and the proposed dispensary - which would be roughly 300 feet apart from dispensaries on either side of it. The city has regularly bypassed the law, in particular in high-density commercial districts, such as Newbury Street and downtown.
Bendetson charged the new shop would be so ruinous it would decrease his property values. He specifically cited what he said would be traffic congestion serious enough to make it difficult for him and guests to get to his property and a reduction in already scarce on-street parking in the neighborhood. The shop, his complaint added, would be a noisy, dust-producing menace that would cause "noxious odors in amounts seriously objectionable and detrimental to the normal use of the Plaintiff's property."
The concern's original proposal - which the zoning board rejected in 2021 - would have had a rear entrance onto Commonwealth Avenue, but the board's approval came after it said it had eliminated that.
Complete complaint (1.1M PDF).
Watch the zoning-board hearing:
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Comments
And like any Zoning issue
that goes before the Court, the plaintiff will prevail because Boston issues variances and licenses like giving out Halloween candy.
Rear entrance _onto_ Comm Ave?
How would that work? There's an alley there. Did they propose an entrance onto that alley?
Yes.
Yes.
Magoo sez
Later today Magoo is considering taking a bubble tubby and smoking a doobie while taking said bubble tubby. Magoo.
Perfumery or pot shop.
They both emit malodorous customers.
The density of pot shops is
The density of pot shops is farcical to the point of being a blight. Instead of “white-washed windows and vacant stores” we have pot shops, which I guess is better than nothing…maybe. We should have more community venues like healthy, affordable restaurants and art studios, game rooms, bowling alleys, movie theaters and places to congregate.
Someone wrote well over a decade ago in the ‘Weekly Dig,” if I recall correctly, that the voters voted for legalizing wacky tabacky at a reasonable tax rate of under 10%, or thereabouts and the MA Legislature, albeit lawfully and Constitutionally and technically democratically though in a breach faith with the citizens of Ma committed a cash grab by jacking up the tax rate. AUDIT THE Ma LEGISLATURE. SHAKE THAT TREE!
Also, nobody should be forced to smell that shit, because some pot smokers got no upbringing, and especially public pot smokers should have the fucking humanity to spare a thought for those struggling to get clean and sober.
KEVIN?!?!?!?!?!?!
KEVIN?!?!?!?!?!?!
Tax rates
IIRC, the current rates are 10.75% excise, 6.25% sales, and 3% local, making it 20% total tax.
(No subject)
Hahaha
Great comedy.
It Stinks to High Heaven
The legalization of cannabis use in Massachusetts needs to be re-examined. No smoked substances make a positive impact on public health. Perhaps edible and/or other cannabis products (green juice, power smoothies, or whatever other beverage is currently fashionable) could be legalized while smoked products become outlawed. My neighborhood and apartment building reek of this skunk-like substance that permeates the air. Yesterday I was with a friend who had her three-year old in a stroller and we walked to three different playgrounds. The stench at each was overwhelming. I wish I had the money to move away from here immediately. As it is, I have zero dollars and must save money to pay for a mover and secure another apartment somewhere. Well, poor, pitiful me, but even the rich people are in a similar position! It’s just tough luck for some of us.
How unfair this board is…it won’t allow a taxpayer to argue against it “just” because he or she opposes it and does not want it in the immediate neighborhood. Despite the support of elected representatives who oppose the dispensary, one’s voice is still ignored! Imagine buying property to create a home and possibly raise a family, and then someone decides to open a cannabis business in a neighborhood that is quite sufficiently supplied with odious cannabis-related products, and your voice and tax dollars mean nothing!
Well said.
Thank you!
Solution for that
Edibles.
Some locations should be limited to edibles - particularly where they are vending primarily to tourists.
But do continue your wHaT aBoUt ThE cHiLdRen sillyness, Karl Rove. Your BANANA nonsense is why we don't have enough housing.
If your mocking comment was meant for me…
I don’t know anything about Karl Rove or what you even meant by “banana nonsense.” Please explain. I already mentioned edible substitutions for the smoked variety in my earlier comment, so your suggestion was no revelation.
I would like to add, taking a young child to three playgrounds (during one walk!) only to find grown men smoking cannabis is discouraging and offensive in many ways. There is no enforcement of laws regarding cannabis due to the shortage of police officers and this supports disrespectful and unlawful behavior. Today I had to leave the dog park with my puppy due to smokers’ presence. This situation continues to escalate in my neighborhood. In what Boston neighborhood do you reside? Perhaps your specific location and experience differ greatly from mine.
I am rather confused by your statement about the need for housing because plenty of housing continues to be built in Boston. It seems as if every open parcel of land is being developed. Are you saying that collected cannabis tax dollars are meant to fund housing in the city? If so, should that dismiss residents’ opposition to having multiple cannabis dispensaries open in one small neighborhood? Are we supposed to accept the fact that the odiferous nature of this substance (which is an allergen for some and nauseating to others) is here to stay and should be tolerated?
Would prefer edibles
I think buying "medicated" candy, "Toklas-style" brownies, and "super" cookies would be my path for a little bit of enjoyment than sparking up a joint. However, I'm not going to Fire Marshal Bill your choice to smoke, either - you want the Chong-style two joints from one lid special, go ahead and have fun.
Just have fun at home
I don't mind people smoking tobacco or weed so long as they aren't messing up the public airspace. Residents of this state already have the highest asthma rates in the country.
That's why I think some more urban spaces - the ones that people with suitcases ask directions to - might be less flower forward and more defined-dose edibles and vapes. There are few places that travelers may smoke legally anyway - hotels don't allow it, nor do restaurants, and its not legal in public anyway.
Just look at how many former elected officials
are in the game, directly or indirectly. It was and is a feeding frenzy. In a different but similar game, it will be the same charade when the free liquor license distribution unfolds. Beans and rice and a double shot of Hennessy is just what the neighborhoods need at 11:00AM.