East Haven bans recreational cannabis businesses in town

PZC Chair Marlene Asid declined to comment on the matter, according to East Haven Land Use Attorney Jennifer Coppola.

The town’s new regulation prohibits all cannabis establishments, as defined by Connecticut General Statute, from operating in any zoning district. However, the regulation allows for the delivery or transport of cannabis to East Haven consumers, as provided for in the state statute.

PZC members had signaled their intent to forbid recreational cannabis sales when they narrowly rejected a proposal at a March 21 meeting to establish a new “Adult-Use Cannabis Retail District” within commercial areas on Frontage Road and Foxon Road. The retail districts would have functioned as floating zones and housed all future businesses selling recreational cannabis.

The board also heard from two lawyers at that meeting who said their clients were interested in including a cannabis facility as part of redevelopment of the property on Foxon Road that currently houses the Seasons wedding banquet hall, meeting minutes state.

According to Coppola, PZC members who voted against the retail districts were “very concerned” with how allowing cannabis sales would affect children in town. Further, the opponents argued that “cannabis establishment uses are not suitable for the town,” Coppola said.

Those members also said that the town would receive “minimal” tax revenue from cannabis sales, and that opening a cannabis shop in East Haven would be unnecessary due to the close proximity of such businesses in Branford and New Haven.

After the board nixed the proposal, several members of the public appeared at a subsequent meeting to express their support for cannabis facilities in East Haven, according to meeting minutes.

Erin Gorman, an attorney who advocates for veterans’ affairs and social equity, told the PZC during a March 29 public hearing that cannabis facilities “provide excellent jobs,” while the drug itself “helps keep veterans off opioids,” minutes state.

Nevil Patel, the chief executive officer of Shangri-La, which operates dispensaries in Ohio and Missouri, said the cannabis industry offers “decent-paying jobs” and “medical benefits for those in need,” minutes state. Patel, whose company will break ground on its first Connecticut-based retailer in Norwalk next month, said he already had picked out a location to open a facility in East Haven, asking board members to reconsider their decision, according to the minutes.

When the state legalized the use of recreational cannabis in July 2021, it gave municipalities the authority to restrict or outright prohibit cannabis establishments through zoning regulations or ordinances.

Recreational cannabis sales began in the state in January, and adults over 21 will be able to grow marijuana plants in their homes starting July 1.