SUNDERLAND — The town’s first retail marijuana dispensary is one step closer to opening, with the Zoning Board of Appeals having approved Gracious Greens’ special permit over the course of two public hearings in May and June.
The 2,000-square-foot store, which is permitted to operate at 267 Amherst Road, Suite 2 (Route 116), will be the town’s first dispensary along a busy stretch of dispensaries in the radius of Sunderland, Whately and Amherst. Heading south on Route 116, there are several dispensaries in Amherst and Hadley, and heading two miles west of Sunderland, there are two permitted — but not operational — dispensaries planned for the former Sugarloaf Shoppes at the intersection of Routes 5, 10 and 116 in Whately.
“We think we have a great spot,” said Gracious Greens consultant Peter D’Agostino. “We think we’ll have a good customer base. … We sized the project appropriately for the town and what the customers would be.”
The company’s special permit was approved with several conditions, which include ending retail operations at 10 p.m. and meetings with Police Chief Erik Demetropoulos, the Select Board and Town Administrator Geoff Kravitz to discuss traffic impacts on the site after three, six and 12 months of operation.
“The special permit process was good,” D’Agostino said. “The overall takeaway is this is a very minimal impact on the community. … It was very straightforward because we weren’t asking for a lot of changes, quite frankly.”
A traffic study conducted by McMahon Associates that was included with the special permit application estimated the opening of the dispensary would “result in less than a 4% increase” in the daily traffic volume on Amherst Road.
In January, the Select Board approved a five-year host community agreement with a 3% community impact fee. Gracious Greens will also contribute up to $5,000 annually to charities and nonprofits that benefit town residents. In addition to the community impact fee, the town will receive 3% of marijuana sales revenue through a local tax option.
According to the state Cannabis Control Commission’s licensing tracker, Gracious Greens’ application for a retail marijuana license has been “reopened” and is “in process.”
This state process, D’Agostino said, will take at least a few months to complete as the company needs to get on CCC meeting agendas. On the local level, Gracious Greens will need to apply for a building permit from Sunderland before minor renovations to Suite 2 can take place.
If Gracious Greens is able to get onto an August meeting agenda with the CCC, D’Agostino estimated the dispensary could start operating before the end of 2022.
The store will sell adult-use, recreational marijuana and will operate like other retailers in the area. The hours of operation are not set in stone, but D’Agostino said the business will likely open sometime after “morning rush hour” at 9 or 10 a.m. and will explore closing times “based on customer demand.”
“We want to be open this year for sure … but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to push into Q1,” D’Agostino noted. “We’re very excited to open in the town and excited to be moving forward.”