On Wednesday night, the Watertown Planning Board has two major agenda items – the medical marijuana dispensary proposed for Elm Street and the apartment complex on Morse Street.
Two weeks ago, Natural Selections – the group seeking to open the marijuana dispensary – received a the vote it needed from the Town Council to move on to seek a special permit from the Planning and Zoning boards to open up a dispensary at 23 Elm Street in East Watertown.
On Wednesday, April 12, the dispensary will appear before the Planning Board for the first time. According to the application submitted by Natural Selections, the dispensary would occupy 2,755 square feet of Building 2 on the site (behind A-Affordable Auto Insurance) and will have 22 parking spaces.
Before the vote is taken by the Planning Board there will be an opportunity for resident to give their input.
After the Planning Board votes on the special permit, it will go to the Zoning Board of Appeals for the final vote. The next ZBA meeting is on Wednesday, April 26.
Morse Street Apartments
Developers seek to turn a former massage school at 101-103 Morse Street on the Southside of Watertown into an apartment complex.
The plan calls for four story building with 45 apartments to be built on the 0.7-acre site. The project would be required to have 50 parking spaces, and the proposal calls for having 62 spaces.
While the apartment building would be built on a property that has been a commercial property since 1906 (most recently the Cortiva Institute), the surrounding neighborhood is made up mostly of one- and two-family homes. On one side of the property sits Casey Park and it is abutted another said by Storyville Preschool. Across the street from the site is Newton’s Boyd Park.
The developers held a community meeting in January where some residents said they believe the proposal included too many apartments and worried that there would not be enough parking.
The Planning Board meeting will be held in the Council Chamber in Town Hall, 149 Main St., and begins at 7 p.m.