Norwich ― An outdoor cannabis cultivator, an indoor grower and a cannabis food and beverage products business all received permit approvals from the Planning Commission Tuesday night following public hearings.
If all three projects come to fruition, they will change the look of two entry points to Norwich and fill a large space in the former Norwich Bulletin building on Franklin Street which has been vacant since the Norwich Fitness Center moved to the city business park, with a cannabis-infused gummies manufacturer.
At 642 and 650 New London Turnpike, a cannabis cultivating facility with greenhouses and an office/administration building would replace the popular Malerba’s golf driving range and Millie’s Ice Cream, both seasonal operations.
Malerba’s farm and farm store next door would not be part of the cannabis operation.
Turnkey Real Estate LLC of Wallingford plans to purchase the properties from Louis and Julie Malerba and affirmed in the application that the ice cream shop and driving range would close. Project engineer Kyle Haubert of CLA Engineers, said the developer does plan to lease the ice cream shop building in the future for a restaurant.
Turnkey will own the property, and Quinnipiac Valley Growth Partners will be the tenant and cannabis growing operator. The developer plans to build a 97,000-square-foot facility in two phases on the 9.8-acre property to cultivate “premium cannabis.” Once complete, the facility would be operated by Quinnipiac Valley, a firm that already holds a state cultivator license, the application states.
The first phase would enlarge the existing parking lot and construct a 55,080-square-foot rectangular structure with three greenhouses and an attached 14-foot-tall steel workspace building or headhouse. The only entrance to the facility for employees, vendors and visitors would be through a security point in the headhouse. All cannabis growing would be in the greenhouses, Haubert said.
The second phase would be similar and calls for adding two greenhouses and a second headhouse, surrounded by open areas to allow emergency services access, the application states. The building would run from the current driving range tee box toward the rear of the property, “partially shaded” from view by the existing front buildings and the property terrain, the application narrative states.
“As visible from New London Turnpike, the facility will likely resemble any other warehouse or light manufacturing facility with the security gate the only clue as to its use,” the application states.
The new entry road would have a double-width security gate just past the front parking area. Once admitted, a vehicle would proceed to an inner parking area adjacent to the facility.
No one from the public spoke during Tuesday’s public hearing, and the commission voted unanimously to approve the project.
Route 2 outdoor cannabis plan approved
The planning commission has been reviewing a proposed outdoor cannabis growing facility at 105 Stonington Road-Route 2 at the Preston border since summer. The public hearing in July was continued to allow the commission to tour the property, and the developer, Nautical Botanicals LLC, requested a postponement in September to Tuesday’s meeting.
The project calls for marijuana to be grown in pots, initially with 1,500 to 2,000 plants grown in a 15,000-square-foot area. An indoor processing and manufacturing operation initially would be done in a 2,100-square-foot temporary construction trailer that would be replaced by 9,600-square-foot permanent steel building in the second phase of development.
Phase three would be an expansion based on market demand, according to the application. The third phase calls for a 4,400-square-foot and a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse. If the greenhouses are built, the facility would scale back its outdoor growing operation.
The entire operation would be surrounded by a 12-foot-high opaque security fence.
Nautical Botanicals’ plan drew the most attention Tuesday. Preston dairy farmer Jerry Grabarek, whose farm is two properties from the site, objected to the cannabis cultivation, citing concerns about odor, pesticides and fertilizer, adding that blasting during construction could disrupt well water and on the well.
Grabarek said some 20 years ago, he lost his farm well when a gas station was built nearby.
“I don’t feel like dropping another $10,000 on a new well,” Grabarek said.
Project engineer Jack McCartney of CLA Engineers, said the developer would conduct a pre-blast survey. Grabarek asked that he be notified prior to blasting, as past nearby blasting projects shook his house and spooked his cows.
Grabarek said he contacted the first selectman in Morris regarding odor from a large cannabis grower in that town and was told during the three weeks of plant blooming, the smell is akin to “20 skunks squashed on your street in front of your house.”
In response, Connie DeBoever, Nautilus partner, told the commission that the Morris farm grows 50,000 cannabis plants, while the proposed Norwich operation would have 1,500 plants. She provided information from the Morris zoning officer that there have been no odor complaints to the town.
Nautilus has proposed planting aromatic plants such as rosemary, lavender and lotus to offset the odor of the cannabis. Grabarek dismissed that effort as comical.
The commission approved the Nautilus application unanimously.
Downtown building to house cannabis gummies plant
The third project approved unanimously by the commission, with no public comments, involved a proposal by Connecticut Cannabis Co. to open a food and beverage manufacturing operation in the former Bulletin building to make “cannabis infused consumables and other items.” The business would acquire cannabis to make pectin gummies, the application stated.
The plan would make no alterations to the exterior, with no signs outside and nothing visible from outside to identify the operation.
“The facility will not be open to the public, and access will be limited to authorized employees, contractors, and business partners,” the application states.
Inside, the proposed kitchen would arrive as a pre-installed, self-contained unit inserted into the building, dropped into place by a heavy-duty forklift. All features, including lighting, electrical connections, are included inside the unit, the application states, ready for a single external utility connection.
The facility would bring in cannabis oil and manufacture cannabis infused gummies in three flavors. The gummies would be packaged by hand into 20-count packages approved by the state Department of Consumer Protection. The packages would be stored on-site in a caged vault pending delivery to a licensed dispensary.
H/T: www.theday.com
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