Bloomfield, one of the first towns to get a cultivation center under Connecticut’s liberalized marijuana laws, is looking to take a time-out before approving more growing center or retail outlets.
The town plan and zoning commission this month intends to consider a moratorium on cannabis growing centers while it draws up better regulations, and might temporarily freeze applications for new dispensaries, too.
“We’re discussing putting the brakes on cultivation and recreational marijuana for a while until we get a better feel for it,” Chairman Byron Lester told the town plan and zoning commission at a recent meeting.
Bloomfield has already approved two cultivation centers that will consume about 20 acres, and municipal leaders are concerned that the industry could eventually expand to take up too much space in town.
And just two weeks ago, public reaction was so negative about a dispensary proposed in the town center that many commissioners now want to stop new marijuana retail proposals until they have time to write stronger regulations.
“I’m baffled at regulations that would put a dispensary in the center of town next to schools. Whatever diligence we tried to go through the first time, we made a mistake,” Commissioner Dwight Bolton told his colleagues.
“We need a more thorough conversation about where these dispensaries are. The way it’s written now, clearly the message from the residents is we got something wrong. Fix it,” Bolton said.
With just 21,000 residents, Bloomfield has nevertheless been a prime location for businesses that were made possible through Connecticut’s 2021 laws permitting recreational marijuana.
Fine Fettle last year was authorized to build a roughly 46,000-square-foot cultivation center on about 10 acres along Mosey Drive, with as much as 20,000 square feet dedicated to growing space. There will be room for flowering, drying, processing and packaging.
The company plans 40 to 90 employees, and has emphasized that the building is purely for commercial cultivation: There will be no retail sales.
Florida-based AYR Wellness is constructing a nearly 64,000-square-foot cultivation center on 8 acres along Granby Street. The company expects to have 75 workers and, like Fine Fettle, has a permit only for cultivation, not for retail sales.
But this winter, Bloomfield businessman Mark Christie’s proposal for a cannabis retail business was rejected after commissioners heard extensive objections from the public.
Working with Oxford Group LLC, Christie planned to convert a former beauty shop at 12 Seneca Road into a dispensary. The location is in the town center and just across the railroad tracks from the Brentwood Drive neighborhood and a day care center.
The commission rejected the plan in February but recommended he consider reapplying after seeking out a location away from the town center.
Commissioner Ola Aina said Bloomfield should have regulations requiring a minimum distance that dispensaries or cultivation centers must have from schools or day cares.
The commission was already considering a moratorium on new cultivation centers, and Aina said it should apply to retail operations too so planners have time to draw up specific, detailed regulations.
“We should work on a regulation that really defines what the policy is for both retail and cultivation,” Aina said. “Let’s have a comprehensive look at what our posture is toward having cannabis retail, lets look at where we want to have it.”
Jonathan Colman, interim director of the building and land use department, advised commissioners that Bloomfield has no current applications for either cultivation businesses or retailers, and agreed to write up a moratorium proposal that could go to a vote at their March 28 meeting.
The commission hasn’t said how long the moratorium would continue, but indicated there’s a range of opinions about how marijuana businesses should be regulated.
Commissioner Kevin Hussain said he was more comfortable with a moratorium only against cultivation centers.
“I don’t think completely cutting off cannabis cultivation and sales is a good thing for our town,” Hussain said.
“My concern with the cultivation piece is the number of them. We have two, I don’t want 10,” Commissioner Kevin Gough said. “I don’t want 10 auto parts stores either.”
“I don’t see why we can’t cap the cultivation at two, which is where it is now. At some point we decide what is it we want for (marijuana) sales,” Lester said.
H/T: Hartford Courant
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