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City of Malden
Malden City Hall
215 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148
Meeting Minutes - Final Rules & Ordinance Committee
Councillor Winslow, Chair
Councillor Colon Hayes, Vice-Chair
- Councillor Crowe
- Councillor Linehan
- Councillor O'Malley
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
6:00 PM
215 Pleasant Street
Room 105
Malden, MA 02148
Watch the meeting with Teams: https://tinyurl.com/3kcxkp53
Roll Call
Chair Winslow called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.
Also in attendance was Zaheer Samee, Alicia McNeil, Nelson Miller, Ron Hogan, Maria Luise, Alex Pratt, Councillors Taylor and McDonald.
Present: 4 - Stephen Winslow, Karen Colon Hayes, Peg Crowe and Amanda Linehan
Absent: 1 - Ryan O'Malley
Business
156-26
In accordance with the Order numbered 137-26 Committee will meet to begin discussion on draft amendments to MCC 12.12.190 necessary to comply with the Court Judgement rendered in Benevolent Botanicals v City of Malden.
Sponsors: Stephen Winslow
Attachments: Structured Analysis from O'Malley
2022 Cannabis amendments recap from McDonald
Judgement - Main Points from Winslow
Memo Cannabis Directive v4 March 19 2026
Romero's Comments on March 19 Memo
Chair Winslow circulated a draft memo he has written that is intended to explain proposed new language of MCC 12.12.190. Comments had also been offered by Solicitor McNeil and Planner Romero. As the members of the committee reviewed the memo, Councillor Winslow explained his proposal.
12.12.190(E)(a)(i) regarding 500' school buffer zone - Councillor Linehan questioned how that pertains to Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (MVRCS) properties. Not all of their acquired properties are used specifically as schools, they own houses and a parking lot in Maplewood Square. The law defines the buffer zone relating to a public or private school provided education in kindergarten or grades 1-12. The ordinance will also require such property lying within the buffer zone has a certificate of occupancy for the applicable use.
Councillor Colon Hayes asked a citation to M.G.L. c. 94G s. 5(b)(3) be added to this section.
Councillor McDonald noted the buffer zone should be measured from the entrance to the building that houses classroom space, not from the entrance to the playground or fence, etc. The measurement lines as written in the proposed paper is based on state law regulations.
Councillor Winslow noted that this proposed ordinance paper will eventually end up before a joint public hearing of the Planning Board with the Rules & Ordinance Committee. The Solicitor and City Planner will weigh in on any points or citations to be added. He said he wasn't prepared at this meeting to dig into the fine details of the paper but suggestions for edits should be noted in the meeting minutes. The purpose of tonight's meeting is to come up with the general framework.
Councillor McDonald brought up the subject of buffer zones around drug treatment centers. The ordinance must define what a treatment center is and how it is distinguished from such non-medical facilities such as the Bridge Recovery Center and churches that allow for 12-step recovery meetings in their space. Building Commissioner Miller pointed out that a definition of substance abuse treatment centers is written in the city's ordinances, and such a location would have an occupancy permit with its specific use noted on it.
Councillor Linehan asked the Body to be aware of the need to update any references to substance abuse to substance use disorder.
Councillor Winslow began reviewing the notes Planner Romero offered for parts of this ordinance that had been struck but she feels should be added back in with this re-write. Romero was not in attendance at this meeting and so unable to explain her position. There was some discussion that her suggested points do not need to be part of the zoning ordinance, as they may be added as conditions to the special permit issued to the applicant. The committee decided to move the paper forward without adding these suggestions back in. Not hearing suggestions for any other changes to his proposed amendments, Councillor Winslow entertained a motion to move his draft out to the full Council for their review and ultimately to refer to Planning Board for a joint public hearing.
Councillor Linehan expressed concern for sending this paper out to the full Council without some explanation because there is a lot of information in the paper and that was discussed during this meeting. Further, the draft requires some cleaning up with formatting and proper numbering according to MCC. Councillor Winslow tasked the City Clerk with making necessary revisions and to created a new paper based on this draft. Clerk Desiderio asked if the committee wanted to review the final draft prior to it getting referred out. Councillor Winslow found that to be unnecessary as the writing is complete, and only administrative edits are necessary at this point. He wants the paper to be referred out on the next possible agenda. All were in agreement with this plan of action.
Adjournment
A motion was made by Councillor Colon Hayes, seconded by Councillor Crowe, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. Meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM.
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