DANBURY – The city’s first all retail cannabis store is planning for a grand opening after Labor Day as construction at the Federal Road location accelerates.
The obstacle holding up the opening of BUDr Cannabis, which Danbury approved in January, was a permit from the state Department of Transportation to build a sidewalk in front of the store.
“We have construction going on with hopefully a scheduled completion date by Labor Day,” said Carl Tirella, co-founder of BUDr. “We did get DOT approval, so site work will be happening over the next few weeks.”
BUDr will be Danbury’s first all retail cannabis store for adult recreational use and the only place to buy cannabis on the city’s east end.
In April, Danbury’s only medicinal cannabis dispensary began selling recreational weed as a hybrid dispensary and retail business on Mill Plain Road on the city’s west side. At that facility, patients with cannabis needs have priority over retail customers.
On the east end, BUDr is converting an empty equipment rental building near the Interstate 84 and Routes 7 and 202 overpasses into a secure facility, to ensure no one goes looking for thrown-out cannabis products in the parking lot.
“We are moving fast and furious on this site,” Tirella said. “Hopefully we’ll have an opening in middle-to-late September.”
BUDr was approved under a 2022 local law that caps the total number of cannabis businesses in Danbury according to category. It allows two hybrid retailers or three businesses in the following categories: one medicinal cannabis dispensary, one recreational pot business, and one hybrid retailer. The law also allows for one micro-cultivator — a farmer whose grow space is no more than 10,000 square feet.
The city’s new cannabis law bans seven types of marijuana businesses that do not generate a special 3 percent tax that Danbury will collect.
Tirella said his fingers were crossed for a September opening.
“It is all obviously dependent on how fast construction goes, and that it stays on track,” he said.
H/T: NewsTimes.com
