AUBURN – A proposed medical marijuana dispensary has cleared the first local hurdle and received the support of the Board of Selectmen.
The board voted 4-1 Monday, with Selectman Kenneth A. Holstrom casting the sole nay vote, to provide a letter of approval to Trichome Health Corp. as it seeks to establish a medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility at 97 Bancroft St. The letter is necessary for the company to move forward with the permitting process under the Massachusetts Department of Health requirements.
Trichome filed its application of intent, the first step toward becoming a registered dispensary, with the DPH last fall.
Trichome is a Massachusetts-based company.
The proposed Auburn facility would not conduct direct sales according to attorney Valerio G. Romano of the Quincy-based VGR Law Firm, which is representing Trichome.
In a letter to the selectmen, Town Manager Julie A. Jacobson said the town has been approached by several marijuana dispensaries, but Trichome was the first to formally request a letter of approval.
If Trichome passes muster with the state, the project would return to Auburn to undergo review under medical marijuana dispensary siting bylaws passed by voters in October. The proposed 15,000-square -foot facility would have to receive a variance from the Auburn Zoning Board of Appeals because part of the building it would occupy at 97 Bancroft St. is in the Zone 2 Aquifer Overlay District, and would need a special permit through the Auburn Planning Board, which would also conduct a site plan review. All those processes would involve public hearings.
The selectmen questioned Mr. Romano and Alexander Mazin, the director, president and CEO of Trichome, at length about the facility, including its security measures, which Mr. Romano described as meeting and in many cases exceeding state-mandated minimum requirements.
With the exception of restrooms, every room in the facility would be monitored by security cameras 24 hours a day, Mr. Romano said, and the local Police Department would be able to remotely monitor the facility through those cameras. Every employee would have to wear a security badge, which they would use to unlock doors leading into and out of every area. He added that the facility “basically treats (marijuana) like plutonium” when it comes to preparing it for transport to distribution centers.
Dispensaries are subject to scheduled and surprise inspections by the DPH, and Mr. Romano extended an open invitation to the selectmen to visit the facility whenever they’d like, in order to add a level of local oversight.
As part of setting up shop in Auburn, Trichome has offered to pay full property taxes on the facility, even though registered medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts are classified as nonprofit organizations. That and any other special conditions would be spelled out in a host community agreement.
As per state law, municipalities cannot bar medical marijuana dispensaries, only regulate where they may be located. Town bylaws preclude medical marijuana dispensaries from locating within 1,000 feet of a school, playground, day care center, library, park, recreational area, or any other place in which children regularly congregate, nor can they be located within 250 feet of a residential area. A dispensary also cannot be located within a mile of another dispensary, which Ms. Jacobson said effectively limits Auburn to two dispensaries total.
credit:telegram.com
