Proposed Williamstown Marijuana Facility to Hold Public Forum Saturday
Joshua Silver of Silver Therapeutics discusses his application for a medical marijuana dispensary at January's forum.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The commonwealth plans to open applications for recreational marijuana shops on April 1, but the business looking to open in the Colonial Plaza is getting ahead of the curve by hosting a community outreach session on Saturday, March 24.
Silver Therapeutics CEO Joshua Silver explained Thursday that Massachusetts' Cannabis Control Commission already has outlined the rules governing applications for licenses to operate what it's calling "adult use marijuana establishments." One of those requirements is a community forum.
Silver hopes to operate a recreational pot shop in the same structure where he plans a medical marijuana dispensary at 238 Main St. (Route 2).
Earlier this year, Silver sought and received from the town a "letter of non-opposition" to the proposed medical dispensary, all the while explaining that his ultimate goal was to operate both types of facilities at the same location.
On Thursday, he said he expects any day to receive his provisional license from the state Department of Public Health to operate the Williamstown dispensary and a cultivation facility in Orange.
"Once [the cultivation facility] is built out, the DPH inspects it and issues the final certificate that it meets all their standards," Silver said.
The medical dispensary would only sell marijuana grown under those standards in Orange.
Saturday's 10 a.m. community outreach session at the Williams Inn will concern the proposal for a recreational marijuana facility, although Silver fielded questions on his plan for the non-medical retail trade in the run-up to January's vote of non-opposition by the Select Board.
"I think [Saturday's forum] is going to be similar to what we heard in our public hearing prior to receiving the letter of non-opposition," Silver said. "We were upfront that this was going to be an adult-use and medical dispensary, so we received comments relevant to both those licenses.
"I'm also hopeful people will come out who are interested in what we're doing, maybe interested in working for us. We're going to be looking to hire local people to staff our store, and we're bringing job applications with us [on Saturday]."
Silver said he will be joined by his chief financial officer and his cultivator. His medical consultant, who participated in a public forum sponsored by the town at Williamstown Elementary School, will not be able to attend. Neither will his security consultant from Boston's The Flying Locksmiths.
But Silver said he is prepared to answer any questions that may come up at the session.
According to a public notice announcing the meeting, the topics on the table include "steps to be taken by the Adult-use Marijuana Establishment to prevent diversion to minors" and "Information adequate to demonstrate that the location will not constitute a nuisance to the community by noise, odor, dust, glare, fumes, vibration, heat, glare or other conditions likely to cause nuisance."
As he did during the process leading to January's Select Board vote, Silver said Thursday that he plans a low-key exterior presence in the shopping plaza with a modest display of the Silver Therapeutics logo.
"The town has a pretty robust sign ordinance," he said. "It would be something worked on and agreed upon between us and the Sign Commission."
He said he did not anticipate window displays of marijuana products similar to the posters advertising alcohol typically displayed in the windows of liquor stores.
"That's not really the look we're going for," Silver said. "We have a concept that's very sleek, and there's very few if any outward displays of marijuana. I'm pretty confident people who know who we are and where we are.
"We're not going to use things in the window to draw them in. Hopefully, our online presence and community outreach efforts will be enough to let people know we're there. We're very aware this is a new thing for the town."
Tags: medical marijuana, public forum,
