Nineteen people have applied for licenses to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Plymouth county, and planning officials want to limit where they can operate in the tri-town.

In November, voters across the state approved a ballot question legalizing marijuana for medical use.

Patients suffering from medical conditions, including cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease, HIV or AIDS, and hepatitis C, are eligible for treatment under the regulation.

No local bylaws govern the location of medical marijuana dispensaries, but planning officials want to change that.

Some towns, Rochester among them, passed moratoriums that would have prohibited dispensaries.

However, this March Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled that town’s can’t approve outright bans on the dispensaries.

Measures that regulate or postpone dispensaries from opening are allowed.

Recently, the state Department of Public Health released a list of 181 applications for dispensaries around the state.

The department will approve up to 35 dispensaries before year’s end. Under the law, each county will have at least one dispensary, but not more than five.

In the tri-town, only Rochester has a dispensary regulating bylaw ready for a vote at Town Meeting this fall.

Planning Board Chair Arnie Johnson said the bylaw would limit dispensaries to the town’s adult entertainment overlay district, located in the industrial zone near SEMASS.

If approved, Rochester’s bylaw prohibits treatment centers from operating within 1,000 feet of a school, church, and other named facilities.

Mattapoisett Building Inspector Andy Bobola said the current situation mirrors what happened 10 years ago when  officials scrambled to draft a bylaw for an adult entertainment district.

“The same situation is on our doorstep now,” he said. “We need to get going on a bylaw proposal and find an area where (a marijuana dispensary) can operate, in the event one came to Mattapoisett.”

Bobola said he spoke to Town Administrator Mike Gagne about creating a committee to draft such a bylaw.

“If we don’t, the town is vulnerable and a dispensary could be established in a general business zone district, which residents might not agree with,” he said. “We want to be ahead of the curve.”

Marion planning officials have discussed the possibility of a treatment center bylaw, but not formally.

Selectmen John Henry noted the issue was too new to warrant a formal discussion for his board.

That’s a topic the Planning Board will handle first. Selectmen would become involved should an applicant apply for a business permit.

Henry said it would make sense for a dispensary to open in a location with a larger population with other medical facilities nearby. Marion’s small town character might not be a good fit, he said.

“I think a dispensary should be strictly controlled by a well-known medical establishment, as all other pharmaceuticals are,” he said.

Also, the cost of opening such a facility will be prohibitive for most developers.

“As I understand, it takes a lot of money to get established in that business,” Henry said.

Potential operators will be required to keep $500,000 in an escrow account. Also, treatment centers must be nonprofits and grow their own supply of marijuana.

Anyone looking to open a dispensary will face those strict guidelines from the state.

The next step for the state health department will be to evaluate applicants’ financial backgrounds.

Following that, the state department of health will set up a selection committee to review applicants  and determine who to award dispensary licenses to through a competitive process.

This fall, the second phase begins for applicants when a selection committee will review the dispensaries based on factors regarding location, public safety, and local support. Once applicants receive approval, it will take about four to six months for a dispensary to open.