Saugus to decide on medical pot facility location

SAUGUS – Seven months after Saugus passed a moratorium on medical marijuana facilities, an article up for approval at Town Meeting this month will set location regulations for the cultivation and sale of the drug.Article 25 asks for Town Meeting members to amend the town?s zoning bylaws to allow for an overlay district map, which would place the facilities on Route 1 or Route 99. Economic Development Coordinator Robert Luongo, who helped to write the bylaws, said the purpose would be to allow for the facilities to be easily accessible for patients purchasing the drug, but far enough from residential parts of town.Luongo said the facilities will be on the borders of the town along those roads, on the Melrose-Saugus line on Route 99 and on the Revere-Saugus line on Route 1.?It seemed to be a good location for it,” said Luongo. “We didn?t want an area that was hard to access for the public, but protect the public as well.”The proposed bylaw amendments were a joint effort by the police department, building inspector and Town Manager Scott Crabtree, and they were based on state regulations as well as a training session that Luongo attended to learn how to administer the ordinance. Luongo said the bylaws cannot negate any state legislation, and neither can Saugus make it too difficult for a facility to exist in town.The bylaw must be passed by September, when the moratorium ends. Luongo is hoping that the article will be approved at Town Meeting within the month of May so there is time for the bylaw to be approved by the attorney general?s office.Article 25 will set regulations for location, but there is still more to do, said Luongo. The Board of Health has yet to set any regulations, and Director of Public Health Frank Giacalone said his board will be having a conversation about permitting later down the line.Town Meeting begins Monday, May 5 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.