Dispensary Planned for Former Pittsfield Health Food Centre
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A cannabis dispensary is planned for the former Pittsfield Health Food Centre on North Street — if the owners can get local approval.
Cloud Nine Visions got the Community Development Board's OK to do business at 407 North St. on Tuesday, but the Zoning Board of Appeals continued its vote on Wednesday to allow for more feedback.
It was recognized that the applicants have gone through all of the legal avenues, "but there is a compatibility to the neighborhood question that we are trying to address," Chair Albert Ingegni III said.
After hearing support from the property owner and some concerns from a downtown business and councilors, the special permit request was continued to Aug. 26.
Some were concerned about the nature of the business and how it fits into the neighborhood, with a church across the street and childcare on the corridor. Recreational cannabis has been legal in Massachusetts since 2016, and dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of a pre-existing school.
It was decided that the owners will meet with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and other abutters before the next meeting.
"I hate to see a business because of its, supposedly, reputation be discriminated against," ZBA member John Fitzgerald cautioned.
"It's not what everybody conceived of back in the '80s, '90s, or whatever. It's not that way."
Cloud Nine Visions plans to open a dispensary in the street-level retail space that housed the Pittsfield Health Food Centre for decades. Jeremy Thompson, partner to principal Sedale Jones, explained that Terpsichore Dance Center mainly uses the back door of the building, and that no one under the age of 21 can enter the business, which would have an ID checker before the front door.
"Both of us are longtime community members. We have kids ourselves," Thompson said. "We're trying to start a business just like everybody else."
Eric Baumert, the property owner, attended the meeting to communicate his support. Earlier this year, his family announced that the health food store will close this summer after more than 60 years on North Street.
"I'm very much a member of this community. I go to St. Joseph's Church regularly," Baumert said.
"All of the citizens up there on North Street, most of them don't have cars that live in those apartment buildings. It's hard for them to get their groceries. It's hard for them to get to the grocery store, and I think a dispensary in downtown Pittsfield would be advantageous for them. They could walk in, make their purchase, and walk home. Most people don't hang out at dispensaries; they make their purchases, and they go home."
The board received letters from Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi and Paul Rich & Sons furniture store.
Lampiasi cited concerns with the proposed window designs, which the Community Development Board requested to be more artistic, and the proximity to St. Joseph's school with plans for childcare on the site once renovated.
"More broadly, I have reservations about placing this type of business within easy view of a property that serves and is intended to continue serving children and families," she wrote.
"As North Street continues to evolve, I hope we encourage businesses not only satisfy our zoning requirements, but also strengthen the overall appearance and experience of the neighborhood."
Pamela Rich, owner of Paul Rich & Sons, wrote that the dispensary is not the right use for the storefront, citing the proximity of the church and public safety, among other items.
Rich wrote that the block currently serves a "genuinely mixed, family-oriented set of daily uses: dance students, church families, YMCA members, and longstanding retailers like ours," and "the cannabis storefront changes that mix in a way that it's very difficult to undo once it's granted."
Downtown Pittsfield Inc.'s Managing Director Rebecca Brien asked that the ZBA postpone the proposal so that other downtown businesses and residents can weigh in.
"I want to be clear that as an organization, it isn't about whether a marijuana dispensary should or shouldn't be in downtown," she said.
"My concern is, as part of the process, this proposal was actually only brought to my attention today, and as I understand it, notification that is made and is required goes out to the property owners within the specific distance of the location. But many of the businesses in our downtown and North Street lease their spaces and therefore would not have received direct notification, and as a result, they may not be aware and have learned about the proposal as I did through a third party, and would want maybe to ask questions and share their perspective on the vote itself."
She said they have had a lot of progress downtown by working together and including all stakeholders, and they would like to continue that approach.
Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he wasn't notified of the proposal until Monday and joined in asking for the postponement, adding, "I'd hope that, knowing you have a generally controversial business plan, you'd want to get these concurrences. Right now, myself and others don't have enough information."
Thompson pushed back, explaining it has taken them a long time to get to this meeting and requirements have been met with the Cannabis Control Commission. He didn't want to vote to be continued.
"I know you said it's not right or wrong, but it's turning from us being friendly to being communicative to it being opposition of what we're doing, and it's starting off wrong already," he said.
"…We've been waiting for this date, special permit, and then tonight, for years. So anything that we have to do, we've done, and we're willing to communicate with any and everybody, but I don't feel we should be penalized for us following through on our end, and we're just like anybody else."
Tags: ZBA, cannabis,
