EAST HAVEN — Town zoning officials have rejected a proposal that would have permitted marijuana retailers to open along two major roads, casting doubt on the potential for cannabis sales in town.
The Planning and Zoning Commission narrowly rejected an application proposing 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, according to the application.
The vote was 3-2 against the proposal, with PZC members Allan Shaul, Robert Cubelotti and John Tarducci in opposition; PZC Chair Marlene Asid and member Louis Fusco were in support. The PZC now is looking to extend its current moratorium on cannabis retail applications by another three months.
According to East Haven land use attorney Jennifer Coppola, PZC members who voted against the application 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.
The town’s current moratorium on cannabis retail facilities is to expire March 30. However, the PZC has proposed extending the deadline to June 30, affording time for members to craft any other regulations pertaining to cannabis establishments, Coppola said. The public hearing on the proposed extension of the moratorium is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday via Zoom.
The now-rejected application would have required that the site of an adult-use cannabis retail district contain at least 1.5 acres of land and be located within a commercial district along Frontage and Foxon roads. Only one recreational or hybrid recreational/medicinal cannabis retailer would have been permitted within each district, for a total of two retail retail marijuana facilities allowed in East Haven, per the proposal.
At least two business owners already have said they would like to open retail cannabis establishments in East Haven. One of those owners, Frank Kane, chief executive officer of Majix Enterprises LLC, called the PZC’s recent decision “shortsighted.”
Kane, whose Virginia-based company is working to open a retail cannabis business elsewhere in Connecticut, noted that businesses will be allowed under state law to deliver cannabis orders to East Haven customers.
“People that wish to utilize cannabis will do so, so it’s just a question of who will reap the tax benefits, and apparently it won’t be East Haven,” Kane said. “I’m sure they have their reasons. I’m just not sure they are rooted in the current reality of cannabis.”
H/T: www.nhregister.com
