Soon after big box stores, auto dealers and shopping plazas popped up on Route 2, the retail strip was dubbed Warwick’s “miracle mile.” It’s no wonder. The stretch, well more than a mile, represented a big chunk of the state’s overall retail business with a handsome bundle in property taxes going to the city without incurring the added cost of schools had the land been developed for homes.

Now the miracle mile could become the “marijuana miracle,” or perhaps pot paradise, gummy grove or, who knows, weed way.

Wednesday night the Planning Board was slated to take under consideration an advisory designed to regulate the location of retail outlets for the sale marijuana and marijuana-related products. Under the provision suggested by the Planning Department, marijuana sales would be limited to General Business zones but restricted by right to Route 2 between and including the intersections of 113 and Route 2 and Route 3/Cowesett Road and Route 2. Prospective retailers of marijuana would be required to obtain a “special use permit” that would require Zoning Board of Review approval. As City Planner Tom Kravitz notes in a memo to the planning board a special use permit “affords neighboring properties due notice of such industrial use conversions (he is referring to grow facilities) to retail while allowing the Zoning Board of Review to request vehicle traffic and circulation impacts.”

Kravitz further reasons, “by right use is only considered for areas of Bald Hill Road that offer substantial vehicle carrying capacity that exists to support retail developments, while also leveraging the retail marijuana market to perhaps fill vacant plaza stores in this area.”

Asked what he thought of the advisory, Mayor Frank Picozzi said Monday the sale of recreational marijuana is “a whole new territory.” He said the state has provided little guidance on the retail sale of marijuana or, for that matter, when the process will start.

Matthew Santacroce, interim deputy director of the Department of Business Regulations and a Gaspee resident, had plenty of answers Monday afternoon.

The possession and use of marijuana became legal after the governor signed the bill this May. However, the Cannabis Control Commission that will establish retail license regulations has yet to be named. Santacroce believes that process will start early next year. The commission may also establish regulations on the locations of retail operations that he said would be limited to 24 in the state. This is in addition to the nine currently approved facilities for the sale of medical marijuana. In addition to the Summit Compassion Center at 280 Jefferson Boulevard, Solar Therapeutics with operations in Massachusetts is projected to open at 65 Meadow Street in Apponaug in December, Santacroce said.

With 65 growers in the state, about 30 are in Warwick, the state has imposed a two-year moratorium on the issuance of cultivator licenses. Santacroce said with the state’s limited compassion centers, marijuana production has slackened but he expects it to ramp up with the opening of more outlets.

“Warwick has been very accommodating to the industry,” he said noting that close to DRB offices on Jefferson Boulevard there are a couple of cultivating operations in addition to the Summit Compassion Center.

As for the proposed designation of a section of Route 2, he said, “designing a retail by right is a reasonable idea. It seems like a sensible thing to do.”

From another perspective, Picozzi said the sale of marijuana “could be lucrative” for Warwick. Three percent of sales are to go to the community where the sale is generated, he said.

City Council President Steve McAllister said he and Ward 9 Councilman Vincent Gebhart met with Kravitz to talk about marijuana sales on Route 2.

“We were all in agreement Bald Hill road would be a natural fit. People traveling in this area are there for shopping where there is lots of stores and parking. This is also an opportunity to fill some of the vacant stores in that area,” McAllister said in an email.

Like other communities, Warwick is also looking at regulations on the smoking of marijuana in public places. The Cranston City Council approved legislation controlling the consumption of marijuana including smoking that is comparable to the open container policy for alcoholic beverages. While Warwick legislation hasn’t been drafted, Picozzi and McAllister imagined it would be comparable to smoking and consuming alcoholic beverages in public places.

Planners were also slated to consider an amendment doubling the number of yard sales a property can hold annually from two to four. In a memo to the planners, Kravitz writes that yard sales “represent perhaps the most micro-levels of local commence amongst private parties. Also they allow residents to dispose of artifacts or possessions that will otherwise accumulate on their properties and potentially become a nuisance to neighbors, or violate building/property codes.” Kravitz further says the amendment is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and zoning purpose.