NORTHAMPTON — A medical marijuana company is eyeing the site of the old Willard gravel pit on Ryan Road for a growing and processing facility.
Just Healthy LLC is looking to open a cannabis greenhouse at the site of the old gravel pit, which CEO Neil Phelan says would be a less intrusive and more environmentally friendly use of the space.
Phelan said his company has worked to find greenhouse cultivation methods that use supplemented LED lights, making the growing operation 30 to 40 percent more energy-efficient.
He said that a large amount of power is consumed across the U.S. by the medicinal cannabis industry.
“The thought in all of this, was that you can’t serve a patient in their wellness if we’re consuming energy at such a high rate,” Phelan said.
He said he came across the site of the Willard gravel pit last summer and saw an opportunity for vertical integration, where his company would do everything “from seed to sale” — growing, processing and eventually selling medicinal cannabis.
Phelan said the company is looking at the possibility of opening up a dispensary at 109 Main Street in Northampton as an urban environment allows for easier access to a retail location. No retail activities are proposed at the Ryan Road facility.
“We’re very excited to be the redevelopment of a gravel pit into what we see as a much less intrusive use of the property,” Phelan said, adding that Just Healthy plans on going through necessary remediation steps to be compliant with the Clean Water Act.
Wayne Feiden, director of planning and sustainability for Northampton, said the proposed facility on Ryan Road would be a growing facility with a greenhouse and a processing center for oils and other cannabis derivatives.
Feiden said it would be a sealed, secure building with metal siding that would abide by the rules and regulations for cannabis growth and processing.
The public would not be able to purchase cannabis or cannabis products at the Ryan Road site, but a letter from the Department of Public Health indicates that Just Healthy is also pursuing a site for a dispensary at 109 Main St. in Northampton.
In April, Just Healthy was selected to receive a certificate of registration from the Department of Health for both a proposed Main Street dispensary and a proposed cultivation and processing site at 1010 Ryan Road.
A public forum sponsored by Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne LaBarge, the city of Northampton and Just Healthy will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the R.K. Finn Ryan Road School to discuss the proposed cultivation and processing facility on Ryan Road and to give residents an opportunity to share their feedback.
Phelan said there will likely be many challenges going forward for the proposed development and said that Monday’s meeting will be a great opportunity to hear from community members and neighbors. He also said that LaBarge prepared an extensive list of constituent concerns for Just Healthy to be aware of, which included security on the site.
Phelan said LaBarge has been helpful and important in the development process and said she clearly cares about doing the right thing for her constituents.
“She really wants to hear about the benefits to her community,” Phelan said.
Feiden said public forums required by the state for new cannabis businesses are the early stage of business development and give neighbors and community members a chance to voice concerns.
Because the site was formerly a gravel pit and was zoned for industrial use, Feiden said there aren’t as many regulatory hurdles for the proposed greenhouse.
“I’m sure we’re going to hear very passionate feelings on both sides at this public forum on Monday,” Feiden said. “If you’ve grown up for decades with a drug that was illegal and now it’s legal, there are going to be some concerns there.”
He said that at the forum, the city will strive to separate issues and concerns that are fixable from concerns that may be more philosophical in nature. For example, Feiden said, some residents have expressed concern about odor, which he said will be addressed by using technical engineering and filters on the greenhouse to eliminate any possible odor outside the facility.
Feiden said plans for the facility will be shown at Monday’s meeting, and said the proposed project would be a single building, smaller than the previous gravel pit. Another gravel pit nearby on Glendale Road was transformed into the Waggin’ Trails Dog Park in 2017.
Phelan said he anticipates hiring 15 to 25 employees to begin with and expects to employ more than 25 workers once fully operational. He said the company intends to hire locally, and said he intentionally chose Northampton for its great pool of potential employees.
“These are highly technical, high paying jobs,” Phelan said. “These skills can be taken anywhere.”
Blackwater Farms LLC, a company seeking to start a marijuana cultivation operation in Leeds, faced opposition and heard a number of resident concerns at a community outreach meeting in late April, many of which centered on the business choosing a location in a residential, rather than industrial area.
Phelan said he’s been working on creating the business for three years, and has traveled all over the country to learn from others who have been successful in launching their own cannabis businesses.
“This pretty much started for me as a dream and it’s taken everything I have to get here,” Phelan said. “But everything I’ve worked hard for won’t matter if the community doesn’t want it.”
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.