The Danbury Zoning Commission has approved a change in the way distance is measured between residential zones and recreational retail cannabis establishments. The regulations approved last month called for 200 feet from the property line to the residential zoning district boundary, but D&B Wellness filed an application to change it as being from the front door of an establishment to the district boundary.

The Commission closed the public hearing the night it was opened and voted 7 to 2 in favor of the change.

There was some discussion during the hearing on other possible solutions that would allow D&B Wellness, doing business as The Botanist, to apply for a special exception to become a hybrid retailer, not just a medicinal establishment.  D&B is seeking to apply to the state for a hybrid license to expand the offerings at the Mill Plain Road location.  One possibility was to change the distance from 200 feet to 100, another was to change the measurement to a residential dwelling rather than to a district boundary.  Planning Director Sharon Calitro made the argument that the regulations were written as is because a lot line is an easy and clean measurement to a zoning district boundary. 

In the end, Commission members went with what was proposed in the application before them. Commission Chair Ted Haddad and member Rob Melillo voted against changing the regulations.