Cape marijuana dispensary could grow product in Plymouth

DENNIS — Barnstable County’s only medical marijuana dispensary could be stocked with product grown in an industrial park in Plymouth.

The possible switch in plans by the William Noyes Webster Foundation is being prompted by the need to grow more marijuana than its 10,000-square-foot building on Great Western Road in South Dennis can accommodate.

The Plymouth building would afford the nonprofit organization double the space.

In late June, state health officials carved the list of medical marijuana applicants down from last fall’s 100 to a final 11.

The foundation was the only medical marijuana applicant on the Cape and Islands to win state approval to move forward, so it’s likely the patient base will be considerably larger than the group anticipated when filing its business plan with the state last fall,

“This hasn’t been presented to the state yet, and no decisions have been made,” said the foundation’s attorney, Valerio Romano, who characterized the group’s investigation of the Plymouth site as “exploring options.”

The state allows medical marijuana licensees to split their operations between no more than two sites; locations do not have to be in the same county.

Romano recently approached the Plymouth Board of Selectmen looking for a letter of support, or at least lack of opposition, for a possible cultivation operation in a 19,000-square-foot building at 30 Industrial Park Road.

“If we do go to the state, we’ll have to show community support,” he explained.

The provisional certificate holders are currently meeting with state health officials, Romano said. “The reason we thought of Plymouth was the town had properties available and zoning in place, Plymouth officials had also been receptive in the first round and wrote letters of support for some other groups.”

Plymouth selectmen reacted cautiously to Romano’s request for a letter of support, saying they wanted to first see what kind of a financial deal the foundation was willing to offer, Romano said.

“The board took it under advisement,” said Plymouth Town Manager Melissa Arrighi. “I think the police chief was looking for more security information.”

The two sides are set to talk further on Tuesday.

Arrighi said some accord could be reached, “if we can get an excellent host fee agreement and a security plan the chief is comfortable with.”

The building under consideration by the foundation had been proposed as a cultivation facility for Mass Organic Therapy, an applicant eliminated by the state in January.

The William Noyes Webster Foundation has already made some preliminary arrangement with the building’s owner.

“We could sign a lease today,” Romano said.

 But that doesn’t mean the foundation is abandoning Dennis. No matter where the product is cultivated, patients will purchase their medical marijuana in South Dennis.

Page 2 of 2 – “Dennis is where we’ve been authorized, and we’re not in any way thinking we would change the location of the dispensary,” Romano said. “But with fewer dispensaries being licensed, we may need more space to adequately serve more patients.”

Daniel Fortier, Dennis’ town planner and the author of the local medical marijuana bylaw, said he had only a brief discussion with the foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Covell about the consideration being given to Plymouth.

Fortier said he lacked sufficient information to comment.

While Plymouth initially generated a great deal of interest among medical marijuana dispensary applicants — including a group led by former U.S. Congressman William Delahunt — none have been allowed by the state to move forward.

William Noyes Webster Foundation isn’t the only provisional certificate holder interested in growing its medical marijuana in Plymouth. Garden Remedies, based in Newton, is expected to meet with the town, possibly as soon as Tuesday, to make a similar request.

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Cape marijuana dispensary could grow product in Plymouth