ADAMS, Mass. — The Planning Board approved an amendment last week to the town's marijuana zoning bylaws that would allow cultivation and manufacturing in the Adams Industrial Park.

 

Although there was some hesitancy among board members last Monday, the board ultimately made way for the new use in areas zoned IP with a special permit.

 

"This is a brave new world that we are in, and we have come a long way from the days of Arnold Print Work on that site," Town Administrator Jay Green said. 

 

With increased interest from businesses wanting to cultivate marijuana or manufacture marijuana products in the industrial park, the Selectmen had asked the Planning Board to revisit the 2018 bylaws that did not allow this use in the park.

 

"We have had over two years' experience with the current bylaw and at the time it was created it was a good first effort, but the town wanted to monitor the bylaw over time," Special Projects Coordinator Donna Cesan said. "Over time, we wanted to keep an eye on the bylaw to make sure it really addressed the town's needs."

 

Most recently, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance to allow a cultivator to move into the former Burke's Construction property located at the park's entrance.

 

Cesan proposed a single amendment, that would allow the use in the park with a special permit. She promised this would still give the board plenty of power over what goes into the park and how it can operate within the park.

 

"The applicant would come to you, and you can impose conditions," she said. "It is an added level of review."

 

She said if an applicant cannot mitigate impacts, the board can outright deny a permit. 

 

Attorney Dennis Eagan, representing Conserve Thru Control, a business that neighbors Burke's Construction, spoke in opposition of the amendment as he did at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting earlier this year.

 

"Simply put the town of Adams got it right the first time around when they excluded this use," he said.

 

Eagan first said his client is not opposed to marijuana cultivation but felt the use was not in line with uses within the industrial park and would be a better fit for industrial-zoned areas.

 

He cited potential odor, increased traffic, and the business's proximity to parks as a concern. He added that the town still does not have any experience with marijuana cultivation.

 

Attorney Joseph Colonna, representing Ian Purkayastha, the cultivator slated to open at Burke's, was also on the call, and said the very concerns Eagan had could be addressed in a special permit.

 

He also looked at current and prior uses in the park, including a pellet plant, and added as well that Specialty Minerals is not far from the park. He said the town allows and has control over these operations that he argued were more impactful.

 

Colonna reiterated that the proposed cultivator in Burke's has proposed a closed system with advanced filtration controls. He said the facility should produce next to no smells and that a condition demanding such sophisticated filtration could be placed on any incoming business through the special permit process. 

 

Board members David Krzeminski and Sandra Moderski aired on the side of caution and were hesitant to open the door for a new use in the park that they were not convinced would fit.

 

Krzeminski felt he needed more proof that odor could be controlled and thought increased traffic would be problematic.

 

He pointed to his own research on possible odor and asked that the town reach out to other communities who have cultivation.

 

Building Inspector Gerry Garner first addressed traffic and considered it an ineffective argument. He said there are vacant buildings and lots in the park and that any new industrial use would create more traffic.

 

"It is an industrial park, you will have truck traffic, you will have car traffic, anything," he said. "You put anything down there and there will be an increase in traffic flow ... that is kind of a foolish thing." 

 

Town officials did not want to allow retail in the park because it was felt this would create more through traffic but were confident that the impacts of cultivation traffic would be minimal.

 

As for odor, Garner warned against running a simple internet search and noted much of what can be found on the internet is negative. He suggested talking to actual communities that have cultivation in their communities. He said he was aware of no issues related to indoor cultivation in Berkshire County.

 

Cesan chimed in and said the town has to be open to different kinds of businesses if they want to grow the tax base.

 

"I hear all the time from people about how high their taxes are and we aren't going to solve that until we start growing the town," she said.

 

Moderski made a motion to table the item so the board could gather more information. Although seconded, the motion failed.

 

A second motion was made to approve the amendment. This motion received a majority vote from the board.

 

The amendment must clear one more hurdle and must be accepted by town meeting to become law.