WOODBRIDGE — Almost two years have passed since the state legalized recreational cannabis, and local zoning officials still are deciding whether to allow or prohibit recreational sales in town.
Woodbridge is one of the few remaining municipalities in Connecticut that have not yet passed any zoning regulations for retail cannabis facilities. Some municipalities outright banned legal cannabis businesses in their town, while others passed a moratorium to give local leaders more time to study and create regulations.
Woodbridge Zoning Enforcement Officer Kristine Sullivan said last week that Town Plan and Zoning Commission members are leaning toward either prohibiting recreational pot facilities outright or regulating them similarly to adult establishments, which are subject to strict distance requirements due to their perceived “negative effects,” the town’s zoning regulations state.
Because the TPZ has not enacted a moratorium or any regulations on cannabis retailers, any applications for proposed businesses submitted to the town would be treated as a general retail establishment, meaning they would not be subject to the same strict requirements as adult establishments.
“They understand that without having anything on the books … that the door is open for someone to come in,” Sullivan said.
Any proposed zoning regulations for recreational cannabis establishments would need to be reviewed by the South Central Regional Council of Governments and also would be subject to a public hearing, according to Sullivan.
The board’s discussions on the topic mostly have been fractured, as officials repeatedly have chosen to defer talks to future meetings.
TPZ Chairman Robert Klee, a former state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner, declined to comment to the Register because the board’s discussions about cannabis regulations are ongoing.
Given the close proximity of cannabis retailers in neighboring municipalities, some TPZ members have contemplated in their brief discussions whether allowing one of those businesses in Woodbridge would be worthwhile.
The Hamden Zoning Commission recently passed a new set of regulations permitting recreational cannabis establishments to open by special permit. In January, the Orange Town Plan and Zoning Commission approved an application for a drive-thru cannabis retailer at the former TD Bank site on Boston Post Road.
Additionally, Amity Health and Wellness, a hybrid medical and recreational cannabis facility on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, is seeking a special permit from the city to relocate its business to Amity Plaza near the Woodbridge line.
Founded in 2019, Affinity already had been serving medical marijuana customers. The business began recreational sales Jan. 10, the first day that cannabis retailers in Connecticut were allowed to open.
“If (Affinity is) going to be the hub, I wonder if other (cannabis business owners) … are going to want to avoid (Woodbridge) because that place takes all the business,” TPZ alternate Aaron Hoffmann said during the board’s April 3 meeting.
“We could just prohibit it, that’s the simplest (option),” TPZ member Andrew Skolnick suggested. “But we have to do something.”
H/T: nhregister.com
