East Longmeadow Council Adopts Right to Farm Bylaw, Rejects Marijuana Ballot Question

EAST LONGMEADOW — April 14, 2026 — East Longmeadow Town Council blocks recreational marijuana ballot question and adopts Right to Farm bylaw. The council voted 3-2 against placing a non-binding advisory question on the June 2026 ballot asking residents whether to repeal the town's 2017 ban on recreational marijuana establishments; members Jim Lydon, Kathy Hill, and Marilyn Richards voted no, citing youth safety, proximity to the new high school, and a recent enforcement problem with a local alcohol and vaping retailer, while Ralph Page and Chair Connor O'Shea voted in favor of letting residents weigh in. Richards argued that "you do not change a zoning bylaw to address the needs or desires of an individual entity," while Page contended a non-binding question was simply a temperature check on community sentiment nine years after the original vote. In separate unanimous votes, the council adopted the new Chapter 328, Right to Farm bylaw after a full second reading by Page, and approved $154,750 in Community Preservation Act funding — $150,000 toward roof stabilization at the Old Town Hall and $4,750 for a 1976-and-2026 time capsule project. The council also accepted an $18,190 state Firefighter Safety and Equipment Grant for portable dual-band radios and heard a sweeping zoning diagnostic from Barrett Planning Group recommending a comprehensive bylaw rewrite, including decoupling site plan review from the special permit process.