The proposed marijuana retail shop at 86 Kirkland Street, at the end of Myrtle Avenue in Cambridge threatens to change the fundamental character of our residential neighborhood.

We the residents and members of this community strongly oppose this proposal by Wonderland Dispensary and Delivery on the grounds that it will worsen traffic congestion that is already a problem, fill our green spaces and sidewalks with second-hand pot smoke, increase noise, and create nuisance crimes and more due to the expected large inflow of strangers into our quiet neighborhood. These effects are well-documented around existing pot stores, as well as actual decreases in residential property values (Thomas and Tian, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Volume 87, 2021,103655).

Our residential Cambridge neighborhood is now mostly composed of homes, a chapel and of school buildings, and it is not a heavy commercial use area. The location is also within two blocks of the Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School, the Cambridge Ellis Preschool and directly across the street from Tree House Academy Daycare and Holden Green, which is housing specifically for graduate students with children. The second-hand smoke, as well the increase in traffic that will result from Wonderland Dispensary and Delivery would be detrimental to our community that includes so many young and underage children on the sidewalks and green spaces. This pot shop would be on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Kirkland Street. Myrtle Ave is a quiet one-way street where children are often playing on the street.

There is almost no street parking available in the vicinity of 86 Kirkland and the proposed business will only make this worse. There is already a high volume of commuter traffic on the corner of Beacon and Kirkland Streets which frequently backs up all the way down Kirkland Street. The opening of this shop in the proposed location would be extremely problematic for the traffic situation alone.

We collectively agree that the potential harm to our neighborhood from the opening of this business is much greater than any pretended benefit. We strongly urge the Planning Board to deny Wonderland Dispensary and Delivery a marijuana retailer license to open a pot shop at 86 Kirkland Street because it will be extremely harmful to our neighborhood and change its fundamental residential character. Our small neighborhood has been strongly opposed to the opening of a marijuana dispensary at this exact location, and we were able to collect 270 signatures against a proposed marijuana dispensary in 2019. We the residents of the neighborhood are STILL strongly opposed to such a business at this location.

Meeting Today! June 6th at 6:30pm. Please attend in-person or by Zoom 

 Community Host Meeting being held at 101 Rogers St, Cambridge MA at 6:30 pm on June 6th, 2024. 

The meeting will cover a proposed Marijuana Establishment at 86 #1 Kirkland St, Cambridge MA 02141.

Tentative Schedule:
6:30 PM: Meeting commences, information session, media component, and supplemental information handed out.
7 PM: Question and Answer session from local community members.
7:30 PM: Meeting over.

Zoom Meeting

Meeting Id 758 6358 1582
Duration 45 Minutes
Passcode wonder