North Adams Planners Put Off Decisions on Dispensary, 'Glamp' Site
Ben Crespi explains a request to modify his special permit for a glamping resort on Notch Road.
Barbara Canale-Schmidt appeared before the board to seek relief from a state-mandated setback requirement in order to open a marijuana dispensary at 31 Union St., the former site of Grandmother's Tavern.
Benjamin Crespi was back before the board seeking a modification to his special permit in order to operate his planned Notch Road "glamping" site year-round.
In each case, the planners decided they needed more information before voting to proceed and told the applicants they will take up their requests at the board's next meeting.
Canale-Schmidt, doing business as Topaz Enterprise LLC, told the board that a pot shop in the currently vacant Union Street property would, "have the potential to generate good tax revenue for the city, bringing jobs and vitality."
To make that happen, Canale-Schmidt needs relief from a few different local zoning rules and, most significantly, one state rule.
State law requires that retail establishments be located no nearer than 500 feet to a public or private school. The 31 Union St. property is 225 feet from Colegrove Park Elementary School.
One member of the seven-person board Monday night expressed hesitancy about exercising the board's authority to make an exception to that requirement.
"I think it's an adequate building," Kyle Hanlon said. "I can't in good conscience let it go near the school.
"I just can't see past the part that, as a grandfather, it would be irresponsible of me to allow a cannabis facility that close to a school."
Chair Brian Miksic disagreed.
"My daughter, sitting right there, goes to that school," Miksic said, pointing to his daughter seated in the gallery of the City Council Chambers. "I have no issue with the location for several issues: One, I don't think it matters, personally. You can't walk into one of these establishments if you're a child. The security is way tighter than any package store.
"[The school] is also 50 feet up. There's literally a cliff to the school on the hill, and the [proposed] establishment is down here. Any way you want to talk, it's about 1,500 feet away. … The specific location, for me, I have absolutely no issue with it."
An anonymous emailer claiming to be a "concerned North Adams parent" contacted local media prior to Monday's hearing expressing alarm about the proposal and claiming that the application process was being rushed. But no one spoke from the floor of the hearing during its public comment period to object to the location of the proposed business.
One person did tell the board that the city should hit the pause button on approving any new cannabis businesses.
Dan Berger, who said repeatedly that he supports the marijuana industry and has no problem with Canale-Schmidt or Topaz, told the board that the city needs to wait on giving licenses until it creates a policy to address equity issues in licensing.
"In 2016, part of the ballot question was to help affect people disproportionately affected by the war on drugs," Berger said. "Now we're trying to live up to the Question 4 language."
The commonwealth's Cannabis Control Commission last year clarified the need for municipalities to have equity policies in place by July 2023, Berger said.
"Before the city issues any [host community agreements] or special permits, I'd ask the Planning Board to wait until the equity policies are in place."
Strictly speaking, the issue before the Planning Board on Monday was whether to grant Canale-Schmidt a provisional special permit. Topaz is in the process of getting a license from the CCC, and the city only has two dispensary permits: one currently used by the operational Clear Sky Cannabis Dispensary on State Road and one that was issued to, but not yet used by, Sparkboro Wellness. Another potential cannabis operation, Spencer House, also was before the board on Monday for a modification to its special permit.
Miksic noted that the Planning Board can and has granted provisional permits based on approval from other city bodies. The City Council approves host community agreements.
Hanlon, who expressed his hesitancy to approve a cannabis dispensary so close to a school, said that he would rather Canale-Schmidt withdraw her application than see it fail in a negative vote, which would have prevented reapplication for two years. He suggested that the shop's design could be altered to move its storefront to the rear of the Union Street property, out of view from passing Colegrove pupils.
Ultimately, he withdrew a motion to deny the application after Jesse Lee Poirer suggested an alternative.
"It seems like there are three good reasons to delay," Poirer said. "There's the municipal equity policy, the permits aren't available and then, addressing the concerns of the public in regards to [the process].
"My understanding is we notified all property abutters within 300 feet. There is a desire by some that parents of school-aged children get notified. I get notified by the school of things all the time."
After the meeting, Miksic said he did not believe the North Adams Public Schools, which are not strictly an abutter with a property across Union Street (Route 2) received a written notice of the hearing.
"All three of those [reasons] call for a little more time," Poirer said. "Kyle [Hanlon], you said that given a little more time, you could conceive of changing your opinion with some further discussion."
Hanlon then withdrew his motion to deny the special permit application, and the board quickly voted 6-0-1 to revisit the matter in a month. Lisa Blackmer, citing her employment in the North Berkshire School Union with headquarters at 26 Union St., abstained from the vote.
The other lengthy discussion before the board on Monday involved the planned glamping resort on Notch Road.
Proprietor Ben Crespi told the planners that expanding his special permit from six months to 12 months will make the resort more economically viable and allow him to create more than 30 full-time jobs.
"I want to be a good neighbor," Crespi told the board. "The best way to be a good neighbor is to have a professional staff. If I have to hire and fire staff every six months, I'm not able to attract the best people."
Crespi also is asking the board to modify his special permit to designate the resort a 24-hour operation, which he characterized as a technicality in the current permit.
"It's more about trying to be transparent with the community," Crespi said. "I'm going to have security 24 hours a day, maintenance 24 hours a day. But there will be no change in quiet hours, no change in events, anything like that. I think [24-hour operation] was implied in the original permit, but it was a technicality I saw."
Later, Crespi's attorney echoed the point.
"Any resort which has people sleeping over is going to be 24 hours," James Martin told the board. "This is not a change. It was implied."
Barbara Canale-Schmidt, above, addresses the Planning Board on plans for a cannabis dispensary on Union Street; below, Heather Anello of Spencer House LLC, which holds one of the two city permits, says she'll be back with location plans.
Elisabeth Goodman told the planners that changing the glamp site to a year-round, 24-hour operation was a major change.
"[Crespi] has not said why needs to have a 24-hour resort operation," Goodman said. "It concerns me he's going to use that to get around careful regulation of outdoor noise. Will people be coming and going at 2 a.m.?"
Goodman and Notch Road resident Dan Dobb expressed concerns about snow removal and safety issues related to tourists using the winding road during the winter months.
Hanlon moved that the board postpone a decision on Crespi's application.
"The applicant has a lawyer, the neighbor has a lawyer, I think we need to take time and get [the application] reviewed by the solicitor of the City of North Adams," Hanlon said, alluding to a prior lawsuit involving permitting of the glamping site. "I anticipate some conflict on this issue. I think the city would be wise to postpone it for a month."
The board voted 7-0 to hold off on the question.
In other business on Monday:
• Heather Anello of Spencer House informed the planners that her business will be back before the board to seek a change of venue to operate at the Veterans of Foreign Wars site instead of the American Legion, as originally proposed.
• The owners of the Porches Inn sought four modifications to a previously approved site plan at the hotel property. The board voted 7-0 to approve changes to a planned walkway, the elimination of a bedroom, a change of location for HVAC equipment and a move to run electric service underground.
• As requested by the City Council, the board voted 6-1 to modify setbacks in the city's Central Business District Zone. Planner Rye Howard voted nay, citing previous objections to the change.
• Miksic was re-elected chair and Poirer as vice chair.
Tags: cannabis, glamping, Planning Board,
