Five Things To Know About Special Town Meeting on Monday

Town Meeting will have a special session at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3 in the Danvers High School Auditorium.

Here are five things to know about the session:

Additional liquor licenses

Town Meeting will discuss whether to ask the State House to introduce legislation to allow Danvers to add six more alcohol licenses.

The Board of Selectmen is asking Town Meeting to vote on the measure because there are more Danvers food establishments that want licenses, but the town is at its limit by law. 

Massachusetts limits the number of licenses depending on the size of communities. 

Marijuana dispensary overlay district

Town Meeting will vote on amending the zoning bylaw so the words “Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers” are removed and replaced with a new “Registered Marijuana Dispensary Overlay District."

The district would include Route 1 to the west, including parcels abutting Industrial Drive and Electronics Avenue, and parcels bordering Conant Street to the north, including all parcels abutting Cherry Hill Drive.

The Planning Board chose those locations because they have “excellent road access, offer a variety of available spaces suitable for a range of [Registered Marijuana Dispensaries] uses, and are geographically situated in areas that are relatively isolated from surrounding residential uses,” according to the Town Meeting Warrant.

The state approved 20 marijuana dispensary locations on Friday, including one in Salem. Danvers Town Meeting will vote on the district in case a company later looks to open a dispensary in Danvers.

Danvers passed a moratorium on dispensaries in 2013 in order to research the matter and create this kind of bylaw and regulations that will be proposed on Monday.

Tapleyville Overlay District

The district would be superimposed over the underlying Industrial I zoning district near the intersection of Pine and Holten streets.

The idea is for the district to “promote opportunities for local, small and medium size businesses that can be integrated with compact housing, bicycling and walking access while serving as a transitional zone from abutting residential areas,” according to the Town Meeting warrant.

By right uses within the district would include convenience stores, restaurants, offices, personal service shops and retail shops along with single-family and multi-family homes up to four units.

Budgetary issues, zoning, and housekeeping articles

Special Town Meeting will vote to approve unpaid bills, budget amendments and accepting firefighting equipment via federal grant. 

There are also many other smaller articles like changes to zoning bylaws.

These articles are from the building inspector, Planning Board or planning staff and deal with the zoning bylaw, including fixing “ambiguities, omissions or inadequacies,” according to the warrant.

How to watch special Town Meeting

You can attend the session or you can watch it on Danvers Community Access Television Comcast Channel 22 and Verizon 41. 

You can see the full special Town Meeting Warrant here.

Wondering who are your elected Town Meeting members? You can get the list here.