Anne Hogeland, bottom, addresses the Williamstown Planning Board and Town Planer Andrew Groff, top left.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For more than a year, the Planning Board has been hearing from people with strong opinions about whether the town should allow outdoor cannabis cultivation.
On Thursday, one member made a plea for comments who are not quite as invested in the issue.
"We're going to hear those [strong advocates], and there's a reason they're the ones who are most interested. But you've got a much larger portion of the town. … That's the stress testing I'd like to know. Maybe it's not possible before you put [a bylaw amendment] up there. But I'd like to know, for the massive middle of folks, whether [setbacks] ranging from 100 feet to 400 feet, allowing the largest size [plantation] but making it more restrictive, whether these ideas are intuitive to them, whether it makes sense to them, whether it's something they could see in their town."