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Engineer Dan Lovett from Hill Engineering outlined the details of the site to the ZBA Wednesday night.

Permit Granted For Medical Marijuana Dispensary In Pittsfield

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Manna Wellness was granted a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday to operate a medical marijuana facility, despite protest from a resident who lives nearby.
 
Julia Germaine of Manna Wellness said the company is looking to build a 3,200 square-foot facility on undeveloped land in the Cloverdale Business Park. The site is located next to Dollar General on outer West Housatonic Street and Ice River Springs. 
 
"The retail space will look similar to a pharmacy," Germaine said.
 
The site expects to serve 30 to 40 patients a day and be open seven-days a week from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Manna is planning to employ a dozen people full-time with a maximum of six working at the location at the same time.
 
The location meets all of the guidelines for a special permit - it is not near a school or playground, won't over burden public utilities, does not create undue traffic. is consistent with the city's master plan, and the security will meet state standards. The site will be a dispensary only, with the product being cultivate in Worcester.
 
Manna is currently in the "inspection phase" of receiving a license from the state Department of Public Health. The company has a preliminary license approval.
 
Engineer Dan Lovett from Hill Engineering said the company plans to add screening to keep the building out of site from one residence that would be able to see it. He said the site will have 27 parking spots, 10 more than required, and "we are going to build a pretty extensive rain garden" to comply with stormwater runoff regulations.
 
The deliveries will come in with non-descriptive vehicles at random times and will be brought in through a gated back entrance, according to Manna Wellness CEO Anthony Parrinello. The company already operates in New Hampshire and Parrinello said there have been no issues.
 
Further, there will be plenty of lighting and many security cameras on the outside. Every inch of the inside will be seen by surveillance cameras. And those entering the facility will need to show their state registration to get in the front door. From there a "man trap" area in which persons cannot exit or enter the next area is where the identification card will again be verified with the state's database. After that, the person will be buzzed into the retail area.
 
"No one is allowed into the facility until you are registered," he said.
 
Cloverdale Street resident Julie Golin, however, opposed the project for fear that it would quickly become a recreational facility if the ballot question passes, that her home value would drop, and that her neighborhood has many children.
 
"I have concerns that it is not in line with the character of that residential neighborhood. There are children, my son included, in that neighborhood. There are buses that pass by multiple times a day," Golin said.
 
She added, "We worked really hard to build a nice home and invested in our property ... I question what this will do to our property values and potential resale values down the road if someone is aware there is a marijuana dispensary in our backyard."
 
Golin also said that the ballot question to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes has a provision that medical marijuana companies have the first shot at getting a recreational license. She fears the facility would make that change.
 
"It appears that medical marijuana facilities would have first dibs on a recreational license down the road should that pass," she said.
 
The city's permitting coordinator Nate Joyner, however, said if that happened, the city would consider it a change in use and take up the issue then. But, he said the rules around recreational facilities haven't come out yet.
 
"We have a small role in this. It is really state-driven. The site part of it comes to the municipalities, the rest of it is state-driven," ZBA Chairman Albert Ingegni said.
 
Despite Golin's concerns, the ZBA voted 4-1, with Miriam Maduro opposing it, to grant the special permit. The granting comes on the heels of the Zoning Board of Appeals denying a special permit for a medicinal marijuana facility on East Street.
 
"I understand Mrs. Golin's concerns about the location. But, unfortunately, this is in a light industrial zone. It is already surrounded by businesses. It is a very different type of feel than the last one," ZBA member Esther Bolan said.

Tags: medical marijuana,   ZBA,   

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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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