Brockton marijuana dispensary granted special permit

BROCKTON – The city’s medical marijuana dispensary is steadily moving toward its anticipated opening in February 2015.

The city’s zoning board of appeals granted the dispensary a special permit Tuesday to operate at 1200 West Chestnut St. It must still undergo site plan review by the planning board and receive final approval from the state before opening.

Ward 3 Councilor Dennis Eaniri said he attended the Tuesday meeting and was pleased that officials took into account a council ordinance restricting where a dispensary can locate and how it can advertise, among other stipulations.

Security concerns came up during the hearing, and the special permit comes with conditions that address those and other issues, Eaniri said.

He said he isn’t happy with the seven days a week operating plan – “I wasn’t too keen to see Sundays” – but that he understands the difficulty of zoning a business with no available comparable businesses.

“It’s probably the best place in the city to have it because it’s miles away from residential,” Eaniri said. “I’ll see how it shakes out.”

The dispensary, owned by a non-profit company called In Good Health, Inc., will have a retail selling space and a marijuana cultivation operation in 16,000 square feet of space at the rear of a printing warehouse.

The dispensary was among 11 organizations given provisional certificates to operate last month by the state Department of Public Health. Nine other groups which had been granted preliminary approval earlier this year can no longer pursue opening their proposed facilities, except that some non-profits have been invited to submit applications to operate dispensaries in counties that were not allocated one of the provisional certificates voted last month.

David Noble, president of In Good Health, said previously that if all goes as planned the dispensary will open Feb. 1, 2015.

“We have a terrific team in place and look forward to completing the local permitting process and state inspection, and serving the people of the Brockton area,” Noble said in an email.

During the dispensary’s first year of operation, Noble said he anticipates just about $1.6 million in revenue and 500 patients served.

The proposed hours of operation are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Noble said he expects to hire 17 employees in the first year.

Massachusetts voters approved a ballot measure in November 2012 that legalized medical marijuana. On Jan. 31, the state issued the first 20 of 35 total dispensary licenses.

Those moving on have facilities planned in seven counties, while seven other counties, including Suffolk County (Boston) and Bristol County, do not yet have dispensaries moving into the inspectional phase.

Page 2 of 2 – Dispensary applicants must complete municipal licensing processes to receive a final state certificate to open.

State officials will conduct inspections on grow, processing and retail readiness “to ensure product safety and quality, security, storage and transportation and responsiveness to patient needs,” according to the Department of Public Health.

Joseph Markman may be reached at jmarkman@enterprisenews.com.

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Brockton marijuana dispensary granted special permit