Everett, MA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 31 of the Everett Zoning Ordinance, titled Registered Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (Facilities), is the location rule for cannabis businesses in the City of Everett, Massachusetts. Subsection A.3, Marijuana Establishments Forbidden, bans the operation of any marijuana establishment as defined in M.G.L. c. 94G, § 1, naming marijuana cultivators, testing facilities, product manufacturers, retailers and any other licensed marijuana-related business, in all zoning districts of the city. Section 12-2004 of the Revised Ordinances, in the business licensing chapter, repeats the prohibition and carries the same medical carve-out.

The carve-out is medical only. Subsection A.2 says the cultivation, production, processing, assembly, packaging, retail or wholesale sale, trade, distribution or dispensing of marijuana for medical use is prohibited unless permitted as a registered marijuana dispensary in compliance with Section 31, and no facility can be established except in compliance with it. Under subsection C.1, a registered marijuana dispensary needs a special permit approved by the special permit granting authority (SPGA), which is the planning board of the city, after a public hearing and a finding that the use meets Section 31. The SPGA can issue the permit only for a site expressly designated in the certificate of registration issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The planning board prescribes which uses the permit covers: cultivation of marijuana for medical use, processing and packaging, retail sale or distribution to qualifying patients, or wholesale sale to another registered dispensary. The permit lasts only as long as the applicant owns and uses the premises as a registered dispensary and expires when the state certificate of registration expires or is terminated, whichever is sooner. Transfer needs SPGA approval as an amendment to the special permit. Applications go to the city clerk with the filing fee and a site plan, and the procedures in G.L. c. 40A § 9 are followed. The purposes clause limits the overall number of dispensaries in the city to what is essential to serve the public convenience and necessity.