Groveland Select Board Advances Combined Recreational Marijuana Zoning Bylaw

Select Board · Meeting of February 17, 2026

Groveland Select Board votes 3-1 to pursue a combined recreational marijuana zoning bylaw covering both retail and manufacturing. Town Planner and Conservation Agent John Sullivan presented three draft bylaw options Tuesday; the board directed staff to merge the retail and non-retail provisions into one document for Planning Board review ahead of annual town meeting. Neighboring communities are already collecting cannabis tax revenue — Town Administrator Rebecca Oldfield cited roughly $30,000 in local option tax receipts from a Merrimack dispensary in its first partial fiscal year, growing to $50,000 in fiscal year 2025.

The lone dissenting vote came from a board member who argued the town's prior ballot opposition should be respected. The board also unanimously approved the FY27-FY31 capital improvement plan with an added $15,000 for a solar-ready town hall electrical upgrade, and voted 4-0 to create an IT working group and appoint Select Board member Steve Baker to it. Oldfield warned that the Pentucket Regional School District's proposed assessment could consume 60 percent of Groveland's total operating budget, leaving roughly $9.9 million for all other municipal services.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of February 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.