Hello Neighbors:
The Vermont state legislature may be taking up the topic of retail sales of marijuana in the upcoming session. Do you have questions about what that might mean for Vermont? Would you like to hear from medical experts, law enforcement experts, members of advocacy groups, and your own legislators, all at the same time...and have a chance to ask them your questions?
Well then, I have good news...this is one of the topics that will highlight this month's Ward6 Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting!
The final ward6 Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting of 2018 will take place this coming Thursday December 6 at 7pm at the Greek Orthodox Church, 600 South Willard Street, on the corner of South Willard and Ledge Road at the rotary. Parking is available in the church lot, entrance off of Ledge Road. Additional parking can be found along Willard Street, as well as in front of Christ the King on Locust Street. Of course, all residents are welcome.
This month's agenda is quite full and interesting, and features the following:
6:45 - 7:00 Social Time and Refreshments
7:00 - 7:15 Approval of November Minutes, Public Forum
7:15 – 7:35 planBTV with Meghan Tuttle, Burlington Department of Planning and Zoning
The department has been working on the 2019 update to planBTV, which is the principal guide for land use and development issues in the city for the next 10-20 years. Between December 2018 and March 2019, the Planning Commission and City Council will be holding several public hearings to gather input and make revisions before readopting at the end of March. Meghan will share the draft plan and collect resident feedback to inform the Commission's and Council's refinements to the draft over the next several months.
7:35 – 8:00 Status of Burlington Telecom and the Public Utilities Commission with:
Dean Corren, Sandra Baird, and Solveig Overby, Intervenors in PUC Approval of BT Sale
A group of six Burlington residents, who are also taxpayers and BT ratepayers, has filed with the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) to intervene in the BT sale. The group is opposing approval primarily based on the City Charter (state law) requirement that taxpayers not pay for BT. The group asserts that the sale would lock in a multi-million-dollar charge to taxpayers.
8:00 – 9:00 Perspectives on Retail Marijuana Sales in Vermont with:
Janine Wright, Deputy Chief, Burlington Police Department
A staff person representing Heady Vermont
Barbara Rachelson, State Representative, Chittenden 6-6
Mary Sullivan, State Representative, Chittenden 6-5
Dr. David Rettew, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, UVM College of Medicine
Vermont's law to legalize recreational marijuana was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Scott in January 2018. Vermont is the only state that has legalized recreational weed without creating a legal retail market. In 2017, the Senate passed a bill to create a taxed and regulated retail market, but the bill did not pass in the House. Lawmakers tried to get a similar bill through the Senate again in 2018 but were not successful. Any sale of recreational marijuana is currently prohibited.
Definitely look forward to seeing you there...subscribe to our Ward6 NPA newsletter at http://eepurl.com/c9pQlL
regards,
Matt Grady
Ward6 NPA committee member
Dec 20, 2024, 6 to 8 PM
The Snow Queen and the Trolls PerformancesDec 20, 2024, 6 to 8 PM
Alpha Film Series at SJV ChurchDec 20, 2024, 6:15 to 8:30 PM