HADLEY – Plans for a medical marijuana dispensary are in the works along Route 9 in Hadley.
The Select Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday night with representatives from Happy Valley Compassion Center Inc., one of several new companies filing plans in the area to open medical marijuana dispensaries and growing facilities. The session is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at Town Hall.
In recent months, the Amherst Select Board gave letters of support to three companies with plans to open dispensaries in that town. Across the river, Easthampton planners last week approved a proposed 27,000-square-foot medical marijuana-growing operation and dispensary in a mill building in that city.
Happy Valley Compassion Center Inc. has filed paperwork with the Planning Board and must receive at least two special permits to open a dispensary, according to board member William E. Dwyer Jr. The company also must receive a letter of municipal support or non-opposition as part of the state application process for registered medical marijuana dispensaries.
“They want to put it in the Sunoco station opposite Stop & Shop near the Amherst town line,” Dwyer said. “It’s about as close to Amherst as you can get on Route 9.”
The company lists James A. Counihan of North Easton as its president and CEO; Patrick Cloney of Medfield as its chief financial officer; and Timothy Van Epps of Northampton as its chief operating officer, according to corporate filings. Van Epps is president of The Sandri Companies and his Greenfield-based company, Sandri Development Inc., owns the site of the planned dispensary.
Attempts to reach Counihan and Van Epps on Tuesday were unsuccessful. The company filed an application of intent to open a medical marijuana dispensary with the state Department of Public Health in July 2015, according to state filings.
When it meets Wednesday, the Select Board is expected to discuss a host community agreement with Happy Valley Compassion Center, according to its posted agenda.
Hadley voters approved zoning to allow medical marijuana businesses in town at its annual Town Meeting in 2014. In addition, the Board of Health adopted regulations for the sale of medical medical marijuana that went into effect Aug. 1, 2015.
Dwyer said the Planning Board will likely schedule a public hearing on Happy Valley Compassion Center’s plans in June.
Staff Writer Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.