AMHERST — Even with three of the four medical marijuana dispensaries proposed for Amherst receiving provisional certificates from the state’s Department of Public Health, none are on the verge of opening.
But the legalization of recreational marijuana by voters in November seems to be having little effect on the timelines for these businesses to begin selling their products.
Happy Valley Ventures, Inc., the lone company to sign a host community agreement, anticipates its dispensary planned for 422 Amity St., the current site of Rafter’s Sports Bar & Restaurant, will go through the town’s permitting process early in 2017.
“We will be filing for our special permit in January or February upon completion of all of our designs/drawings required for the submittal,” founder and chairman Michael Reardon said in an email.
Over the summer, Mass Alternative Care received a Zoning Board of Appeals special permit for a former restaurant site at 55 University Drive, and GTI Massachusetts NP Corp. obtained a special permit for the former auction barn at 169 Meadow St. But neither have signed a mandated host community agreement with Town Manager Paul Bockelman.
The Amherst attorney representing GTI, Thomas Reidy of Bacon Wilson, is confident that the dispensary will come.
“Without knowing how the legislature is going to handle implementation of recreational marijuana, and the current timeline of retail sales beginning in 2018, GTI is completely focused on its medicinal operations,” Reidy said.
The other medical marijuana company planning to come to Amherst is MassMedicum Corp. with a new building under construction at 85 University Drive, has no local approvals yet.
In a recent update to the Select Board, Bockelman and Economic Development Director Geoffrey Kravitz explained that the dispensaries, the first of which applied for a letter of support from the Select Board last January, appear to be in a holding pattern.
The one host community agreement in place, negotiated by former Interim Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, calls for providing Amherst $75,000 during the pre-opening phase, then 3 percent of annual revenues minus this initial payment.
As part of the arrangement, each company would have to provide $15,000 a year to a local charity, offer employment to local residents and renegotiate the agreement upon the legalization of recreational marijuana.
“The other companies have balked at that host community agreement, feeling it’s too expensive to operate under that host community agreement,” Bockelman said.
Medical marijuana is anticipated to be a $10 million a year industry in Amherst.
Reidy said negotiations are happening. “We have been, and are willing to continue, negotiating in good faith with the town,” Reidy said.
Meanwhile, with recreational marijuana legal, it’s unclear if zoning regulations adopted by the town following the 2012 medical marijuana legislation will need to be revised and, if so, whether the town should impose a moratorium on future applicants.
Bockelman said the town may need to seek legal advice, noting this new terrain has not yet been set.
Under the current law, recreational marijuana shops are allowed in all communities, though the Legislature, depending on its actions, may not permit these to open until sometime in 2018. Medical marijuana shops could be allowed to sell recreational marijuana starting Jan. 1, 2018
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.