For our next meeting, we have invited both of the families/companies (and past presenters) who plan to open recreational marijuana shops in our area:
*Porter Square Remedies, LLC, proposing to open at the site of what used to be Wok ‘n Roll (1908 Mass Ave)
*Budega, INC, proposing to open at the current site of Stereo Jack (1686 Mass Ave)
We have also invited the City to bring us up to date on the revised zoning and regulations, as well. Marc McGovern could not join us, so we have asked another past presenter :
*Jeff Roberts, Director of Zoning and Development, Cambridge, MA
Since we met last on this issue, there has been litigation. This Crimson article
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/1/29/judge-strikes-marijuana-mor...
explains the City’s temporary ban, which the MA Court lifted, and “Cannabis Litigation”, from Lee Gianetti, below explains the City’s appeal request.
So, a lot to catch up on!
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“What is going on with Cannabis in Porter Square?”
PSNA February Meeting
Thursday, February 20, 2020, 7-9 pm
Lesley University Hall, 1815 Mass Ave, 2-078 (2nd floor)
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City of Cambridge Public Information Office
Contact: Lee Gianetti, Director of Communications
lgianetti@cambridgema.gov
For Immediate Release
Cannabis Litigation
Cambridge, MA, Feb. 14, 2020 – Today, the City Solicitor’s Office filed a Petition for Interlocutory Review to a Single Justice of the Appeals Court in the case Revolutionary Clinics II, Inc. v. the City of Cambridge. The plaintiff in that case has challenged the City’s Cannabis Business Permitting Ordinance, specifically, the two year period in which only Economic Empowerment Applicants are eligible to receive a Cannabis Business Permit for a Cannabis Retail Store (the “two-year moratorium”). The City is seeking interlocutory relief from a Single Justice of the Appeals Court with regard to the Superior Court’s January 24, 2020 order on the Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction in this case (“Order”), which restrains and enjoins the City from enforcing the two-year moratorium and from taking any action to prevent the Plaintiff from immediately applying to convert its Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (“MTC”) to a co-located adult-use cannabis retail establishment and MTC. The City also filed a Notice of Appeal in the Superior Court preserving the City’s right to further appeal the Order to a panel of the Appeals Court. Additionally, the City filed an Emergency Motion for a Stay of the Court’s Order in the Superior Court. The Motion for a Stay requests that the Superior Court stay the Order pending the appeals.