The Westbrook Zoning Commission will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 7, to open a public hearing over proposed changes to the zoning regulations that would prohibit retail marijuana in the Neighborhood Commercial District (NCD).

In 2022, the commission passed a zoning regulation allowing retail marijuana stores by special permit in the NCD, the turnpike interchange district, the industrial district, and the light industrial district.

After receiving significant pushback from residents in the NCD district the commission is proposing new regulations that would prohibit the stores in the NCD. The new regulations would also prohibit retailers from opening within 500 feet of a site that has a municipal childcare facility, place of worship, school, municipal building, municipal park, or library. The stores can only operate between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Currently, the NCD runs from about the Old Saybrook town line to the town center, where it breaks, then resumes from the Town Hall to about the Clinton town line.

The NCD includes Route 1, but it also includes areas that are purely residential neighborhoods. Westbrook Town Planner Peter Gillespie pointed out that, in theory, businesses would have the right to open in areas that are resident neighborhoods, not commercial centers like Route 1.

At the public hearing, people may speak either in favor, neutrally, or in opposition to the application.

The new regulation proposal comes after nearly two years of controversy surrounding cannabis and the NCD.

In 2021, Connecticut legislators passed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults 18 and older. That bill left it up to local municipalities to decide whether recreational marijuana retail would be allowed to operate within town limits. In 2022, the Westbrook Zoning Commission attempted to solicit community opinions on the matter via surveys and public hearings but received little feedback. The commission passed the initial zoning regulation changes in July 2022 with very little fanfare.

Then, an application was filed for a proposed retail marijuana site at 755 Boston Post Road and things changes dramatically. The application was a significant source of controversy for some in town, particularly those who lived in beach communities in the NCD near the proposed site.

While some members of the community were for the application, across three public hearings the majority of speakers were opposed and expressed concerns about increased traffic, fear of increased crime, and potential illegal parking in the residential streets surrounding the business.

In early 2023, the Zoning Commission approved the application, but an appeal was soon filed by neighbors, and in 2024, a settlement was reached where the application and its approval were subsequently withdrawn.

However, the questions about the appropriate uses in the NCD raised by the application remained.

In a presentation given to a subcommittee formed to study the district, Gillespie said NCD was meant to have a mix of low-key uses that would not generate a large volume of traffic and that “anyone in town would be okay having next to their house.”