Bits and pieces, or a bit of a piece

Some bits and pieces today.

Bit one. 

I have seemed to have been able to recently break the "habit" of having to sit down and pound away at the keys on a daily basis.  I look at that as a good thing for me and everyone too.  I really am beginning to understand the concept of life being to short to sweat over the little things.  

Much of what we sweat over does in fact fall into the little thing category, at least in the bigger picture of life. But nonetheless, one cannot ignore the fact that it is the little details that often make or break, garner success or result in failure, or if nothing else provide a lightning rod.

Anyway, just a little bit on that.

In the most recent edition of the Fairhaven Neighborhood News you will find an add for the planning board public hearing on the proposed by-law for pot plants, or more properly the proposed zoning by-law for medical marijuana facilities. This is the piece for today.

Want to know what's in the by-law? Well you could look at the proposal or simply find the one for the Town of Dennis.   Why is the one for Dennis an option. Essentially there are no major differences?  Other than some rewording to make the same applicable specifically to Fairhaven, and some re-ordering of the provisions, omitting any reference to the exemption from zoning under section 3 of chapter 40A to the extent such a site is entitled to that protection, and a subsection being gutted, relative to bonding, no difference.

Also seems the proposal inserted a provision that a facility cannot be located in any building containing residential units, including transient housing such as motels and dormitories, or inside movable or mobile structures such as a van or truck.

The Town of Dennis by-law was approved by the AG. I don't see where the near mirror image proposal would run into any roadblocks.  The where certainly seems large enough to accommodate a sufficient land mass to pass AG muster.

Nothing on its face that would cause me to jump up and down against it, but that is in the end a personal opinion.  what we might do if given the reign to do so in the inception, shouldn't take precedent over a resulting product absent a clearly compelling reason.

Other than perhaps not giving any individual the bright idea of perhaps trying to utilize the exemption from zoning under state law, not sure I followed the logic for omitting the reference to the exemption provided by state law. 

I suppose it would first help if the state clarified whether the activity on its face would be classified as falling under the broad definition as agriculture as defined under the general laws elsewhere and as has to be used under the exemption.  At this point it is really irrelevant.  It will be a minimum of two years before that sticky wicket has to be passed through.

Anyway, I am not going to put on the hat of a Philadelphia lawyer over the matter.  When this cash crop starts generating the cash, some enterprising owner of land will certainly be willing to push the button on that one.

Who knows maybe the answer is the home rule petition.  If it is though, there is a competing understanding of just what you can and cannot do under such a petition. Future discussion for future endeavors I suppose.

For the present, we have a scheduled public hearing on a proposed by-law to place RMD facilities in the Alden Road/Bridge Street/Mill Road industrial area with terms and conditions essentially mirroring the Town of Dennis By-law.  Sound familiar?

Well enough for today.

Be Safe.