Town Meeting members could be asked to vote on recreational marijuana, allow cranberry growers to produce electricity alongside their crops, and rezone a portion of a business park under three zoning bylaw changes which could appear on the Fall Town Meeting agenda.

Here’s a look at each bylaw and what residents and officials had to say at an August 20 Planning Board public hearing.

Recreational marijuana

This Planning Board-sponsored article, if approved, would allow recreational marijuana establishments within the town’s office, general industrial, and a portion of the limited industrial zoning districts. The area would run mostly along Faunce Corner Road and certain areas within Ventura Drive and Ledgewood Boulevard.

The number of recreational facilities would be capped at 3, and must be located 1,000 feet away from each other, and 500 feet away from areas where children congregate, like schools and universities.

“With our moratorium up in October that leaves us open to having a recreational facility almost anywhere in the Town of Dartmouth because the Town of Dartmouth voted in favor of marijuana when we had the election,” Member Lorri-Ann Miller said. “This is going to be put in place so they can only be in areas we so choose, not anywhere in town.”

Resident Margaret Sweet noted some areas along the route are areas where children congregate, like a karate studio located in the old Route 6 Marine building and a dance school on Ventura Drive.

“That would be evidence we’d have to look at during the special permit process,” said vice chairman John Sousa. “Listen to the facts, and if children are congregating, as it states in our bylaw, we could deny a special permit.”

One resident asked if the distance limits could push facilities throughout the potential zoning area instead of congregating everything in one central area.

The Planning Board voted 3-0 to recommend the passage of the article, with changes including clarifying the distance minimums apply between buildings, not property lines.

Solar farms for cranberry bogs

NextSun Energy is proposing a bylaw change through a citizens’ petition to allow the town’s four cranberry bog owners to build specially designed solar farms on their land.

The bylaw change would allow the farms to take part in the state’s Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, which is under development by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to expand solar production in the state.

Marc Deshaies, local counsel for NextSun Energy, explained the solar panels are larger than ones more commonly found at solar farms. They are designed to maximize sun exposure, and include tilting systems to move with the sun. The intent is to allow cranberry farmers to use their land both for cranberry harvesting and electricity production, so the arrays are higher than average to accommodate farm machinery and harvesting operations.

NextSun is limiting the town’s adoption in its petition to just cranberry bogs located on agricultural land which have been operating for at least five years. There are 115 acres of total buildable land across four properties that would qualify under this proposal. The company is working with Fred Bottomley, who owns a bog on Flag Swamp Road, to develop the first project.

Michael Wainio, who manages the property, explained the proposal could be a lifesaver for the region's struggling cranberry farmers, many of whom are making less than the cost of production. Small operations survived a collapse of the industry in the early 2000s by picking up weekday jobs and harvesting on the weekends with families, but midrange operations are still suffering, he said.

It was the first time the plan has been pitched to a town board in an open meeting, and Planning Board members -- and the public -- had a hard time following the project.

The board continued the public hearing to give the petitioner more time to submit the full text of the proposed bylaw change, and clarify several issues the board raised.

Zoning change

The owners of Dartmouth Place on State Road proposed through a citizens' petition to bring the whole property into the office zoning district, which would allow them to build a new parking area on the southwestern portion of the property. Currently, the property is in two different zoning districts.

The Planning Board continued the public hearing as well, citing concerns with the applicants’ parking proposal. The board had concerns about a "paper street" involved in  the proposal -- a street which exists on a plan but has not yet been fully built.