Littleton Planning Board Unanimously Sends Marijuana Cultivation Limits to Town Meeting

LITTLETON — September 12, 2024 — Littleton Planning Board sends marijuana cultivation restrictions to special town meeting. The board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend a revised marijuana zoning bylaw that limits cultivation facilities, removes outdated provisions, and conforms town regulations to current state law — the first of a two-step process the board says will lead to a full ban on new cultivation permits at the spring town meeting. Town Counsel Tom Herrington, present for the public hearing, defended a broad citation of MGL Chapter 111 in the bylaw's new odor control provision, saying it gives the board "more authority, more flexibility and leeway" without locking the town into specific technology. The board also heard from the Water and Sewer Commission that the new water resource recovery facility is on track for startup testing in spring 2025, with the system operational as early as June 2025, though discharge capacity — currently permitted at 241,000 gallons per day at the high school site — remains the binding constraint on future development in the town center. A two-month infiltration test planned for October could support expanding that limit to 300,000 gallons per day.