By, Julia Perkins on https://www.newstimes.com
DANBURY — If the many calls to the city’s planning office are any indication, Danbury could see high interest from prospective marijuana retailers after officials approved new regulations permitting a limited number of these establishments.
The city has been getting calls for months about its plans for cannabis sales.
“We’ve been hearing from people all along about the status,” said Sharon Calitro, city planning director.
Now, the Zoning Commission has approved rules that will allow four types of marijuana businesses, including recreational pot sales, in certain areas of the city. Approval of the regulations means an end to the city’s temporary moratorium on cannabis establishments implemented last summer after the state legalized recreational marijuana and opened the door to pot sales in Connecticut by the end of 2022.
With nearby towns still either studying how to regulate recreational pot sales or looking to prohibit them all together, Danbury could be the first municipality in the area to see this type of business — and cash in on the 3 percent sales tax benefit that comes with it.
Shay Nagarsheth, the city’s economic development director, said it’s too “premature” to say whether the city will market to marijuana retailers. But he anticipates their arrival could be a boost to the city, adding the new rules offer a nice balance between welcoming the retailers and regulating them.
“It is going to be highly regulated at the local level and it’s very limited to the number of establishments,” he said. “And that, in effect, is going to allow Danbury to test the waters, and then the regulations can be amended as necessary in the future.”
The state has received more than 37,300 applications for the various types of cannabis licenses ranging from retail to cultivator across equity and non-equity applicants. Retail sales are not expected to begin until later this year.
Once they do, Danbury expects it could attract residents from nearby New York or neighboring towns where dispensaries may not be permitted. They may even visit other businesses on their way.
“As far as people traveling to Danbury to visit one of these establishments they certainly could have an economic impact on other types of businesses in the area,” Nagarsheth said.
The Zoning Commission approved the regulations in a 6-3 vote on Tuesday, but the new rules won’t become effective until the day after they’re published in a newspaper — likely next week.
It’s unclear how soon any business would submit an application, but Calitro says it’ll be “probably sooner rather than later.”
“But there’s a whole process at the state level too, that takes time,” she added. “And again, it takes time to prepare an application that would comply with the requirements.”
Finding a location that fits within the regulations takes time too, she said.
What the regulations say:
The regulations restrict cannabis establishments from opening near schools, public parks, municipal buildings, licensed day care centers, dependency treatment centers, places of worship, homeless shelters, or transitional housing facilities. Nor are they permitted on Main Street or Route 53.
No more than four marijuana businesses would be permitted in the city at any one time. Plus, the regulations cap the number of businesses by category. Businesses must earn special exception approval from the Planning Commission.
“We are not opening the door,” Calitro said at Tuesday’s Zoning Commission meeting. “This is a very limited number of establishments to see how it goes.”
The regulations allow for no more than two hybrid retailers that sell medicinal and recreational pot to adults — or a combination of one cannabis dispensary facility, one cannabis hybrid retailer and one cannabis retailer. One cannabis “micro-cultivator,” a space between 2,000 to 10,000 square feet where pot is grown, is permitted.
“You can get to that fairly quickly depending on the interest and the expediency of putting together and application,” Calitro said.
Danbury had already permitted medicinal marijuana and welcomed a medicinal dispensary, The Botanist, that moved from Bethel to the Hat City, opening last October. However, any new applications for medical marijuana establishments had been on hold due to the temporary moratorium that the city put in place while new regulations were drafted.
Calitro said she considered how the regulations would affect the health, safety and welfare of Danbury residents as they drafted the new rules.
“We did a lot of research,” she said. “We put a lot of time and effort into thinking about where — if we were going to allow these uses, a limited number of them — where in the city they might be appropriate.”
But some Zoning Commission members were uncomfortable with welcoming cannabis establishments. Robert Melillo noted that federal law prohibits marijuana use and wasn’t satisfied with assurances from city lawyers that Danbury wouldn’t get into legal trouble.
“I myself do not feel comfortable approving something that is illegal,” he said.
Fellow commission member Candace Fay countered it’s not their job to decide whether something should be legal.
“The Zoning Commission simply decides where it will go, whether it will go within our city,” she said.
Commission member Milan David argued residents will smoke pot anyway, so the city might as well regulate where they can buy it.
“It’s going to be safer because people are going to do this whether you approve it or not,” he said.
H/T: https://www.newstimes.com
By, Julia Perkins on https://www.newstimes.com
