A Connecticut-based cannabis company has won approval to open a dispensary at a shopping center in the town’s North End, despite pushback from medical providers that claimed the store would harm their nearby practices.
The Stratford Zoning Commission voted 4-0 to approve plans from Budr Cannabis, which operates stores in West Hartford and Danbury, to open a hybrid retail facility to sell recreational and medical marijuana in Oronoque Plaza at 7365 Main Street.
Carl Tirella Jr., the company’s co-founder, said in an interview that he expects it will take about three months to set up the now vacant storefront and that he hopes to open the location by the end of the summer.
“We were super excited that we were welcomed with open arms in the town of Stratford,” Tirella said.
The vote marked the third time the zoning commission has approved plans to open a dispensary in town limits since state lawmakers moved to legalize the recreational cannabis market in 2021.
The company behind the first authorized store, however, decided not to move forward with the project after facing an issue with the building’s lease. The other store, which was proposed by a Michigan-based company, will be located at the site of the old Johnny’s Restaurant on Honeyspot Road.
An empty storefront in the Oronoque Shopping Plaza at 7364 Main St., in Stratford, Conn. Dec. 28, 2023.© Provided by Connecticut Post
Zoning officials have capped the number of local dispensaries at just two, meaning the newly approved store will be the last proposed dispensary the commission will consider unless the panel decides to loosen the rules.
Budr, which Tirella co-founded with Derrick Gibbs, has been awarded licenses to operate six stores, according to the state Department of Consumer Protection, the agency tasked with regulating the budding recreational cannabis business.
Tirella has said the now-approved store is part of rapid expansion Budr is undergoing and that the company plans to open up to four new locations by the end of the year, including one in Tolland.
The shopping center where Budr plans to open the store sits across from the Sikorsky Aircraft factory and about a half-mile north of the Merritt Parkway. Tirella has said Budr specifically searched for a location in a different part of town than the dispensary planned for Honeyspot Road, which is expected to open by the end of the year.
“We felt like this was a good location for a hybrid facility based on where the other current medical facilities are,” Tirella said last year. “We really think that offering both recreational and medical cannabis at that facility will enable us to serve the community as best as possible.”
At a public hearing before the commission’s vote, a pair of healthcare professionals from separate medical practices located at the shopping center urged the commission to reject the store. Dr. Kurt Tichy, an optometrist at Oronoque Eye Care, claimed the dispensary could harm his business.
“My concern is with the dispensary being so close to our medical practices that it’s going to discourage patients, particularly families with young children from wanting to come to the plaza to continue to get their healthcare needs,” Tichy said.
Tichy’s comments were echoed by Dr. Sara Ysaac-Garcia, a pediatric dentist at Children’s Dentistry of Stratford, who said the practice has served about 3,000 children in the last year, including patients referred from Bridgeport Hospital.
“I feel this project that’s being proposed will deter a lot of my patients from coming to that office,” Ysaac-Garcia said. “I just feel that the parents will not feel like it’s a good place to bring their children.”
Barry Knott, a local attorney who represents Budr, suggested the arguments were unfair since the shopping plaza currently includes a liquor store. He said the dispensary will also check customers’ IDs before allowing them to enter and that no products will be consumed on site.
Knott said the dispensary will rely on a concrete and steel vault to store the cannabis products. He also noted the store will employ between 10 and 15 full-time workers and will initially have security officials on hand when it opens.
“My client plans to have security presence for the first week of operation but based upon his experience with other facilities that he owns and is operating in Connecticut … security is not an issue when you open up these facilities,” Knott said.
H/T: CTPost.com
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