By WHAV Staff |
May 4, 2021
Stem s Caroline Pineau consults with Attorney Thomas MacMillan during a City Council meeting in 2019. (WHAV News file photograph.)
The City of Haverhill and Stem, a downtown marijuana retailer, exchanged new legal claims yesterday in Essex County Superior Court with the city asking that most claims against it be dismissed and Stem asking for “emergency relief.”
In its filing, Haverhill argues Stem, 124 Washington St., must pay “community impact” fees, not necessarily because of state law, but because the adult-use marijuana business agreed to do so in a contract; that it is too early to document “impacts” Stem may have caused especially in light of the health pandemic; Stem has not been financially harmed, but rather appears to have earned $13 million since opening; and not enough time has passed to verify and negotiate community impact costs.
Wicked Local
A medical marijuana facility called Earth Well Farms has expressed interested in doing business at 526 Boston Post Road in Wayland near the Sudbury town line, resulting in the Wayland selectmen discussing a draft community agreement on April 5.
Town Counsel Lauren Goldberg of KP Law confirmed to the selectmen that it is acceptable to begin discussing the community agreement before an application for the business is sent to the state s Cannabis Control Commission.
Goldberg noted that medical marijuana facilities are not allowed within 500 feet of a school, daycare, playground, or any type of organized area for children.
She said a town can negotiate for 3% of the gross sales revenue from the facility to offset the costs of having such a facility in town.
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Waltham Community Briefs
WCC create ordinance to go with Housing Choice bill
The Waltham City Council recently announced a Housing Choice Ordinance in conjunction with the Housing Choice bill that was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
The bill requires municipalities with an MBTA station, ferry or bus terminal to create at least one district “of reasonable size” within a half-mile of a station where multifamily housing could be built without any special permits.
The council believes this measure will lower the percentage of votes required to approve a variety of zoning changes, including to build transit-oriented housing from two-thirds of a city council or town meeting to a simple majority.
GREAT BARRINGTON â As pot shops bloom in a legal landscape, so might problems.
But there is a tariff on recreational cannabis that state and local officials hope will counter them called Community Impact Funds â one that already has amounted to $1.7 million in town revenue from Theory Wellness.
Now, $185,000 of that fund money can be spent, and the town is giving it to four local organizations and the school district to help prevent or solve any fallout from legal pot. That amount represents the companyâs first-quarter fee to the town, after opening in January 2019.
On Monday, the Select Board announced the recipients of the Community Impact Fund program, after a committee made the decision: