Methuen, MA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

The buffers sit in § 11.24C(2) of the Methuen Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and apply to every registered marijuana dispensary (RMD) and off-site medical marijuana dispensary (OMMD) that comes before the Community Development Board for a special permit. Paragraph (a) bars a facility within a radius of 500 feet of a school, day-care center or any facility in which children commonly congregate. Paragraph (b) bars a facility within 500 feet of a residence, a building containing residences (including commercial residential uses such as hotels, motels and lodging houses), a residential zoning district or the Conservancy District (CN) Zone. Paragraph (c) bars a facility inside a building containing residential units, including transient housing such as lodging houses, motels and dormitories.

Measurement is spelled out. If the dispensary is on a separate parcel from the protected use, the distance runs in a straight line from the nearest point of each property line of the protected use to the nearest point of the property line of the proposed RMD or OMMD. If both are on the same parcel, the distance runs from the nearest point of the building housing the protected use to the nearest point of the building housing the proposed dispensary (§ 11.24C(2)(d) and (e)).

The location clause names schools, day-care centers and facilities where children commonly congregate, and the purpose clause in § 11.24A names playgrounds and other locations where minors congregate. Parks are not named in the location clause. Section 11.25, the recreational marijuana section, is a temporary moratorium and prints no buffer distance.