The building at 68 Dalton Ave. has been vacant for years and was slated to be demolished.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The former Royal Cleaners is now eyed to be repurposed for a marijuana retail, cultivation, and manufacturing company.
The Zoning Board of Appeals granted a special permit for EOS Farm LLC to operate there. The plan is to use the majority of the building for cultivation and manufacturing of marijuana products and then use 600 square feet of frontage for retail.
"There are plantings along the front and the side to hide the residential property," said architect John Barry.
The company will be leasing from Raymond Frenkel, who also own and lease the adjacent residential properties. Engineer Brent White said an evergreen screen will be installed on the property boundary to separate the two uses.
White added that the curb cut on Dalton Avenue will be removed and Harvard Street will be where the customers enter. The store hopes to be open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
"I think it is a good use of a structure that has been sitting there for a couple of years," said ZBA member John Fitzgerald.
The board and a neighbor raised questions about odors and conditioned the permit so that if the odor becomes an issue, the company will have to come back before the board with a solution.
The building had been most recently eyed to be demolished and Dunkin' Donuts planned to build a new restaurant there. The ZBA had granted that permit in 2017 but the plans never moved forward -- ending a political saga between city officials and the company.
The Zoning Board has had steady interest in cannibis companies looking to open up shop since Massachusetts voters approved recreational sales. About 10 or so retailers have been approved, a half dozen or so cultivators have been approved, and two manufacturers have been approved on the local level.
However, despite the interest, only one entity is currently selling recreationally. Temescal Wellness on West Housatonic Street is the only recreational dispensary in Pittsfield right now and Berkshire Roots is expected to become the second soon, as it received its final permit from the state last month.
A number of other entities have shown interest but haven't moved forward with applications. A proposal for the former Countywide Rental building on Dalton Avenue was intended to become a dispensary but on Wednesday the ZBA accepted Pittsfield Investment Group's withdrawal.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more