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Date: 3/30/2022
HOLYOKE – Special permits for new cannabis-related businesses dominated the meeting between the Ordinance Committee of the City Council and the Planning Board on March 22.
The Ordinance Committee voted to approve a change in language concerning the buffer zone between cannabis businesses and schools, churches and residences. The councilors initially discussed a buffer zone of 200 feet, but City Councilor Israel Rivera noted in the parts of the city where cannabis businesses have started there are many residences and churches, making a buffer zone with them difficult.
Councilor Kevin Jourdain noted that he didn’t want any alteration of the buffer zone – he had suggested increasing it to 500 feet – to harm the existing applicants for new cannabis businesses.
After discussion, the councilors decided to eliminate residences and churches from the buffer zone language, but leave the 200-foot buffer between cannabis businesses and schools. The complete City Council will be required to vote on the recommendation.
Chair of the Ordinance Committee, City Councilor Linda Vacon, noted that to date no special permit involving cannabis has been denied and that Holyoke has granted the greatest number of special permits in the state.
The committee will recommend an approval by the compleye council for the special permit application for Hybrid House LLC at 55 Jackson St. to operate a marijuana manufacturing establishment.
The committee continued a discussion concerning the special permit for Green Grab located at 620 Beaulieu St. Odaliz Breton and his partners have received provisional approval from the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) to have a cannabis delivery service. Breton is the first social equity applicant to have been approved by the CCC.
Vacon noted this is the first discussion the committee has on the subject of delivery service and said the members have not received any information from the Planning Department do date.
Breton and his attorney, Marvin Cable, explained the service would be doing most of its deliveries out of Holyoke. The operation would have two unmarked vans to start. Each van would have two employees. All of the transactions would be done online and there would be no cash in the vans. When making a delivery the employees wear body cameras and an ID card would be required from the customer and will be scanned.
There would be a maximum of $10,000 worth of cannabis in the van. The employees would not be carrying weapons.
The committee will be discussing this special permit at greater length at its April 26 meeting.