New Owners for College Street Cannabis Dispensary. Flag Lot Approved on Red Gate Lane

Report on the Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals, October 24, 2024

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
David Sloviter (Acting Chair), Philip White, Craig Meadows, Everald Henry, and John Varner. Absent: Steve Judge (Chair)

Staff: Jacinta Williams (Planner)

Turners Falls Cannabis Dispensary Purchases Red Cardinal
The owners of 253 Farmacy, a cannabis dispensary in Turners Falls have an agreement to purchase the Red Cardinal marijuana sales establishment at 328 College Street pending approval of the State Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), a host agreement with the town, and revision of the 2020 Special Permit to accommodate the change in ownership. The host agreement is almost complete, but the CCC approval can take a month or more.

Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) member Craig Meadows recused himself from the hearing because his cousin is an investor in this business, and he felt it would be a conflict of interest for him to serve. His recusal left only four ZBA members on the panel. Therefore, a unanimous vote of the remaining four members would be required to approve a Special Permit.

The appellants, the owners of 253 Farmacy are local. Seth Rutherford grew up in Shutesbury and graduated from Amherst Regional High School. His wife is from Hadley, Christopher Gallant grew up in Granby. They were represented by their attorney Philip Silverman of Vicente LLC.

Rutherford and Gallant have owned and managed the 30,000 square foot facility in Turners Falls since 2019. According to Rutherford, it is one of very few owner-operated facilities in the state and the only kosher-certified dispensary in the Commonwealth. He added that the facility sells a “high quality product at premium prices.” and said 80 percent of the staff has worked there since 2019.

The applicants plan no changes to the Amherst site, other than a new sign.

The lighting and alarm system from Red Cardinal will remain, and the 36 parking spaces are unchanged. The operating hours will continue to be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Silverman reported that the applicants are working with the town on a host community agreement that should be ready in a few days as there are no disagreements. The Cannabis Control Commission consent will take thirty to forty days.

ZBA members David Sloviter, Everald Henry, and John Varner made a site visit and saw that the exterior secure delivery system was unchanged as was the interior, with the same vault for storage of the products and secure sales system.

There was minimal discussion of the Special Permit application. Henry asked what would constitute a violation of the host community agreement and was told that violations usually involved not paying impact fees or taxes. Another question was why an annual report was required by the Special Permit, noting that no report was ever filed by Red Cardinal. Silverman suggested that the permit state that an annual report be required at the request of the Building Commissioner. In the end, four affirmative votes approved the Special Permit for the change of ownership of the similar business. Minimal changes were made to the 2020 permit.

Flag Lot on Red Gate Lane Approved
Meadows returned to the Board, for the hearing on Jonathan Klate’s application for a Special Permit to create a flag lot at the rear of his home at 47 Red Gate Lane. However, Varner was not on the original panel so could not deliberate on this application, and Chair Steve Judge was absent, so again the permit would require a unanimous vote of the four members present to be approved. Klate and his attorney Tom Reidy of Bacon, Wilson LLC were given the option of continuing the hearing to another date or proceeding with the four-member panel, knowing that all four votes would be necessary for approval of the special permit. The applicant chose to proceed with the public hearing, which had already been continued three times.

Flag lot permits expire after two years if not built upon. This lot had been approved three times previously (in 2005, 2016 and 2019), but several neighbors objected to renewal of this permit at previous sessions, citing noise from construction and extra traffic on the long driveway. No abutters attended this meeting.

The frontage lot owned and occupied by Klate measures about 54,000 square feet while only 20,000 square feet is required in the Neighborhood Residence (RN) zone. The flag lot is 48,000 square feet, meeting the requirement of the Zoning Bylaw of 40,000 square feet, exclusive of the access strip which must be 40 feet wide and a maximum length of 400 feet. Also, the buildable part of the lot must contain a building circle with a diameter at least the size of the frontage required in this district, or 120 feet in diameter. The proposed flag lot exceeds all the requirements of the Zoning Bylaw. Large lots are the norm in the Hills Road and Red Gate Lane subdivision. Most are double lots with large back yards. This flag lot provides in-fill development recommended by the Master Plan. Thus, the Special Permit was approved by a unanimous vote of the four panel members.

Discussion about the application centered around the fact that the plan presented showed a possible house that could be constructed on the flag lot, but what was actually built would be up to the purchaser of the lot. ZBA members were also concerned that the plantings along the accessway would be tall enough to offer adequate screening for the neighboring house to the north. Reidy cautioned the board that they could not place too many restrictions on the flag lot, since its use for a single-family house is allowed by right. Sloviter asked if the house could be rented to students. Reidy answered that it could, as could all the houses on the street.

Henry stated that the flag lot had been permitted three times in the past, and nothing has changed. “It meets the qualification,”he said, “and whatever is built there must be approved by the Building Commissioner.”

In public comment, Hilda Greenbaum agreed with Henry. She noted that the ZBA only has jurisdiction over whether flag lot meets requirements of Zoning Bylaw, and other specifications to appease the neighbors are irrelevant.

White and Meadows agreed that the Special Permit should be granted. Sloviter still had concerns about the effect of the new lot on the neighbors, and wanted to be sure the buffer plants will be tall enough for adequate screening, but eventually, he agreed with the others and the Special Permit was granted by a 4-0 vote.

.