A medical marijuana dispensary blocked by the town of Woonsocket over their proposed location’s proximity to a trampoline park recently had the special permit denial overturned by a Rhode Island judge. The company, RMI Compassion Center, planned to open their store on Diamond Hill Road but was denied a special permit in the spring of 2022 by local officials. According to reporting from The Providence Business Journal, the Superior Court Judge ruled that the town of Woonsocket made an “error of law” when they denied the special permit.
Town officials had claimed that a local zoning ordinance prevented them from approving a dispensary that was located in area where children or minors commonly congregate. There was no such requirement in the town ordinance, according to the Judge, and the only language in the ordinance that refers to proximity between marijuana establishments and schools, youth centers, and licensed daycare centers applies to cultivators, which RMI Compassion Center is not.
Find the full story from the Providence Business Journal on their website here: https://www.bizjournals.com/rhodeisland/news/2023/04/04/woonsocket-must-let-marijuana-shop-open.html
