HADLEY — Owners of a Route 9 business are suing the Hadley Planning Board and Happy Valley Compassion Center, claiming the medical marijuana dispensary approved last month would be built too close to residential property.
Jason French and Corey French, who together own half of the Amherst Motel business, filed the suit in Hampshire Superior Court on Oct. 25. The Amherst Motel, at 408 Northampton Road in Amherst, is an abutter to the proposed medical marijuana dispensary site, which is in Hadley.
According to Hadley medical marijuana zoning bylaws, dispensaries may not abut residential property. The Amherst Motel functions as an apartment complex and motel, the lawsuit claims.
In March, Happy Valley applied for a special permit to convert the former Sunoco station site at 457 Russell St. into a medical marijuana dispensary. The project was approved at an Oct. 5 Planning Board meeting.
In the lawsuit, the Frenches claim the Planning Board “exceeded its authority in approving Happy Valley’s Applications for Permit,” and failed to demonstrate a need for the dispensary.
Eric Perkins, who has been half-owner of the Amherst Motel for 38 years, said by telephone Saturday the business is in the process of being sold, though he declined to name the buyer. Perkins is not a party to the lawsuit but said he hired his own attorney and hopes the issue can be resolved without litigation.
“I don’t have any problems with marijuana dispensaries but I’m concerned whoever buys this place can do so without being restricted with what they do with the property,” Perkins said. “It is apartments and motel (rooms), which is unusual. It is an old building — we’re selling it out, basically, for the property.”
According to Perkins, 61, he and business partner Gale H. French bought the Amherst Motel in 1978. French passed away last year and his stake of the business was inherited by his sons Jason and Corey French. The French brothers were not immediately available for comment.
According to minutes from a Hadley Planning Board meeting in June, GSX Solutions of Boston, represented by attorney Thomas Reidy of Bacon & Wilson in Amherst, is considering a four-story, 132-unit project for the Amherst Motel site.
The only part of the Amherst Motel in Hadley is its swimming pool.
In July, Amherst Planning Director Christine Brestrup said no plans for the four-story development had been filed with the town, but she said the Planning Department was first approached in January about the possibility of constructing new apartments on the 3.83-acre site.
Hadley Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski said Saturday the lawsuit is out of the board’s hands.
“It is up to the two parties, the Amherst Motel and their attorneys, and Happy Valley and their attorneys, to address this case,” he said. “The town counsel will be involved only as an overseer.”
The lawsuit is not the first time the Happy Valley Compassion Center has generated controversy. The dispensary application was initially rejected by the Planning Board after a nearby mosque raised concern it would be built too close to a place where children congregate. The Hampshire Mosque is renovating the former Adventure Outfitters building at 451 Russell St.
The Planning Board overturned the rejection Oct. 5 because the mosque is under construction and did not exist at the time of the Happy Valley application. The mosque is not involved in the lawsuit at hand, Maksimoski said.
“We originally turned it down, but the Planning Board has 90 days to reverse a decision … if the Planning Board members on the prevailing side wish to reconsider it,” Maksimoski said. “That’s what happened. We had gotten a decision by the town counsel about the mosque so it was reconsidered and it was approved. The decision was filed and the abutter appealed it.”
James A. Counihan, president and CEO of Happy Valley Compassion Center, said Sunday they were somewhat surprised by the appeal as there had been a number of public hearings on the topic and no one from the motel attended them.
Counihan said the company has retained counsel for the appeal and was waiting for the attorney’s review.
The company, of North Easton, has also applied to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 155 Main St. in Greenfield.
Staff writer Emily Cutts contributed to this report.