Lee — Select Board members voted two to zero to request that the town’s Planning Board hold a hearing to initiate a zoning bylaw amendment replacing the number of non-retail cannabis permits allowed within its borders from the current 14 permits down to three permits.
If the Select Board asks the Planning Board to have a hearing, by law, the Planning Board must hold a public hearing within 65 days, with the Planning Board’s recommendation going before the voters, Clerk Gordon Bailey said. “We’re going to put this on the annual town warrant,” he said of the May town meeting warrant.
Select Board Chair Robert “Bob” Jones recused himself from the discussion due to his association with a cannabis store.
Lee currently has two retail cannabis licenses or stores, a product of a ratio equal to 20 percent of the number of its alcohol or package store licenses pursuant to town bylaws, Bailey said. Five permits have been granted to three cannabis establishments, with three of those five permits being non-retail. The town collects a three percent impact fee, or tax, from local retail operations. The proposed action, if it moves forward, would not affect any business currently in operation but would mostly involve cultivation and cannabis-manufacturing facilities, Town Manager Christopher Brittain said in an email to The Berkshire Edge.
At the meeting, Planning Board Chair Buck Donovan asked Bailey for the group’s “motive” for the change.
“Motive? Based on the fact that the Cannabis Commission has changed all the rules, we don’t find that there’s any reason for us to go down this road anymore,” Bailey responded.
Brittain concurs with Bailey. “The state has now made it extremely difficult to collect any impact money,” he stated in the email.
In September, new rules regulating marijuana use for adults and medical purposes were approved by the Commonwealth’s Cannabis Control Commission, enacting sweeping changes diverting the autonomy of municipalities to direct their own Host Community Agreements (HCA)—operational documents that include the mitigation of concerns which may arise from the community about the operation, such as odors—to state oversight.
Although the program at first appeared to offer a windfall to the town by adding tax income and employing residents, the Commission’s changes seem to deter that benefit, especially considering the odors emitted from cannabis facilities, Bailey said. During the June 20 and September 5 Lee Select Board meetings, residents and Bailey complained of smells emanating from cannabis-cultivation and manufacturing facility Green Theory, with Bailey stating then that the business needs to identify what it is doing to keep those smells in check. “Personally, if I’m sitting on this board, I’ll tell you now, I’ll never—unless somebody really shows me they can not have it smell—I would not vote in favor of another manufacturer,” Bailey said.
Donovan said the town can issue a total of seven different non-retail cannabis licenses, including testing labs and transport businesses, facilities that don’t produce an odor. “Basically, the problematic part is the cultivation and the manufacturer,” he said in his address to the dais. “So, I was wondering, are they paying less taxes than any other business?”
Donovan questioned why other cannabis businesses are being targeted by the proposal when the real issue is the odor, a concern that can be addressed. “There is enforcement,” he said of odor nuisances. “There is part of the bylaw that does enforce that.”
Donovan pointed out other businesses that emit odors, such as agricultural, with Bailey responding that cannabis isn’t designated as agricultural. “At this point around the country, it’s another business,” Donovan said of the cannabis industry.
Member Sean Regnier said he would be amenable to a compromise, carving out bylaws for cultivation and manufacturing permits. “A lot of these are just plain businesses,” Donovan said of the cannabis industry’s non-retail establishments. “That’s taxation. That’s business growth. I think that’s what we try to do and still keep the character of our town. A testing lab would be down in an industrial park somewhere. You’d probably never see it or hear from it.”
Sweetgrass Botanicals Lee to open Monday
If the proposed bylaw amendment passes, Sweetgrass Botanicals Lee, which already has its retail and manufacturing permits, may just get in under the wire, joining Canna Provisions (retail permit) and Green Theory Cultivation (manufacturing and cultivation permits) to close out the third non-retail permit. According to owner Cassandra Purdy, Sweetgrass plans to open to the public at 635 Laurel Street on January 22, employing 15 workers who live within a stone’s throw of the building that formerly housed the Cork and Hearth restaurant.
Purdy told The Berkshire Edge that her new venture presents the area with a novel approach to a cannabis shop, a warm and inviting atmosphere that will also provide a place for locals to meet up, learn about the products and industry, and explore a unique selection of non-cannabis and wellness products. An area of the former Cork and Hearth restaurant, The Mercantile, will be void of THC products, instead housing apparel, herbal and holistic books, and imbibing accessories. “The Cork and Hearth has been a restaurant and a gathering place since the turn of the century,” Purdy said. She said she has become friends with the longtime proprietors of the former eatery who created a “sense of loyalty and hospitality” within the walls of the building that once served as a 19th-century tavern. “And we really want to continue in that spirit of hospitality and gathering,” Purdy said.
With her professional chef and catering background, Purdy will be cooking up exclusive edibles in the in-house kitchen. Large windows will allow patrons to view the hash-extraction lab that uses a natural solventless process—meaning without the use of butane or hydrocarbons—and provides the psychoactive base for all Sweetgrass products, including edibles, wellness items, and medicinal salves. Events such as expert panels and book signings are slated for the future.
“We really want people to feel comfortable here and not rush to make a purchase; walk around this room and browse, and pick up a book and sit down, have a complimentary cup of tea,” Purdy said.
Select Board alters agreement with Green Theory Cultivation
The Select Board also approved an amendment to the town’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with licensee Green Theory Cultivation, also known as Aruna, 845 Pleasant Street/Route 102, by a vote of two to zero, with Jones recused. According to the Cannabis Control Commission website, Green Theory Cultivation is classified as a cannabis Tier 3 Indoor Cultivation facility as well as a Product Manufacturer. The agency defines a product manufacturer as being able to process and package cannabis or marijuana products to retailers but not to consumers. Tier 3 refers to the size of the cultivation; that is, having between 10,001 and 20,000 square feet of canopy.
Originally, an HCA had been executed between Lee and Green Theory that laid out its operational terms, including a three percent impact fee to be used to fund a School Resource Officer (SRO). Two additional cannabis facilities in Lee agreed to split the cost of the SRO between the three entities.
The Green Theory MOU amendment eliminates the HCA and, in its place, provides a fee schedule requiring the company to pay $79,342 in fiscal year 2023 to be used toward odor mitigation of its Aruna Pleasant Street facility; $35,263 in fiscal year 2024 to be used toward the SRO salary; and $17,631 in fiscal year 2025 to also be used toward the SRO salary.
Resident Kathy Hall voiced concern over the fate of the SRO, citing a decline in funding for the position that is “so much needed in the times we are in.”
The balance of what is needed to fund the SRO position is taken out of the municipality’s taxes, ultimately moving over the full payment of an SRO out of the tax rolls, a budget transition, Bailey said. “We’re not losing the School Resource Officer,” he explained.
The MOU amendment ends on January 1, 2026, and states that it was prompted by the aforementioned new regulations promulgated by the Cannabis Control Commission so the town would be in compliance with these rules.
Click here to view the amended Memorandum of Understanding.
At the meeting, the Select Board:
- Approved an application to Michael Lipton for a new Annual Wine & Malt Package Store License for Lipton Inc. d/b/a Lipton Mart #605, 1140 Pleasant Street;
- Appointed Patrick Rooney to the Board of Public Works and Mia Francesconi as a per diem Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician;
- Approved a letter in support of a Lenox Block Grant for the rehabilitation of 16 homes intended for low-income households;
- Approved an inspection fee waiver for the Berkshire Hills Baptist Church, with Bailey recused;
- Approved a One Day Alcohol License for the See Sportsmen’s Association for a February 4 fundraiser; and
- Approved staffing a sufficient number of police officers at polling locations for elections.
