STRATFORD — A Missouri-based cannabis company aiming to expand into Connecticut is proposing to open a facility to grow marijuana in an industrial building off Lordship Boulevard.
Shangri-La, which currently operates a handful of dispensaries in the Midwest, is seeking the town’s permission to use the 40,000 square-foot building at 305 Hathaway Drive as a production facility, according to an application submitted to the Stratford Zoning Commission.
Nevil Patel, the CEO of Shangri-La, said the company plans to grow the product inside the single-story building and then ship to dispensaries across the state, including a retail store now under construction in Norwalk.
The “geographical location is great,” Patel said of the facility in an email. “We can cover a major population of Connecticut within two to three hours of driving distance from this facility.”
Site plans show the company plans to repurpose much of the building’s interior but will leave the exterior intact. The building, which is zoned for light industrial uses, previously housed a vocational school and an indoor recreational center.
“The building is in great shape and sized perfectly for our use,” Patel said.
Patel said the facility, which would not offer retail sales, would likely employ about 130 workers. He said he is also preparing what he described as a robust community involvement plan to strengthen the company’s ties to the region.
Shangri-La originated in Missouri before expanding into Ohio, according to the company’s website. The company is currently preparing to open a drive-thru dispensary in Norwalk and has previously expressed interest in operating a store in the New Haven region.
If the proposal is approved, Shangri-La would not be the first company to open a cannabis cultivation facility in Stratford. In 2021, the zoning commission approved plans from Advanced Grow Labs to open a production facility on Access Road to grow medical marijuana.
The application comes as the zoning commission is considering a separate application from Lorrain’s CT, a local company that makes marijuana-infused snacks and drinks, to open a manufacturing center on Honeyspot Road.
In addition to proposing the manufacturing center, Lorrain’s is seeking to tweak the town’s zoning regulations to loosen the cap on the number of local cannabis facilities — a proposal that could impact Shangri-La’s application.
Under the current rules, only a total of two cannabis dispensaries or production facilities are allowed within the town. The yet-to-be-approved change would allow up to two dispensaries and up to two production facilities — in addition to an unrestricted number of businesses dedicated to manufacturing, packing and delivering, but not growing or selling cannabis products.
In a memo to commission members, Planning & Zoning Administrator Jay Habansky recommended the five-member panel approve the change, arguing it streamlines the existing rules and could help boost the tax base by attracting new businesses.
“In an ultra competitive economic climate, the town should consider welcoming these non-retail businesses that support the cannabis industry throughout the state, while other municipalities are figuring out the positions of the matter,” Habansky wrote.
The commission is currently scheduled to review the Shangri-La proposal, the proposal from Lorrain’s and the related text amendment, at its meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
H/T: www.ctpost.com
