LEOMINSTER — While Prime Wellness Centers initially presented itself as a medical company when applying to open a marijuana dispensary in 2016, City Council members say they aren’t surprised to hear the company is now considering recreational sales as well.
“With recreational now legal, you have to wonder how these medical companies would compete,” Ward 4 Councilor Mark Bodanza said Tuesday.
Prime Wellness Centers, currently building its medical marijuana dispensary at 1775 Lock Drive, held a public meeting on Saturday that it is considering the option of having recreational sales.
Bodanza noted that the company did not express much interest in recreational marijuana when it was applying for a permit with the city, but said he was not surprised to hear the company was now considering it.
The council granted Prime Wellness Centers a permit to open the city’s first medical marijuana dispensary in 2017, however the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2016 meant the medical sales license given to the company by the state now entitles them to also do recreational sales.
“Any of us could see this coming. The law in Massachusetts changed with the ballot referendum,” said Ward 3 Councilor David Cormier. “We all saw this coming and it doesn’t come as a surprise they are looking to expand.”
However, if the company were to sell recreational marijuana in Leominster, it would have to go through a local permitting process first, which includes getting approval of the City Council.
Though Prime Wellness Centers company has worked closely with the city on marijuana sales, At-large Councilor Thomas “Frank” Ardinger said it will still have to go through the same process any other applicant would in applying for a recreational sales permit.
“Anybody that comes into the city has to go through the same approvals, and public hearings, and negotiation of a community host agreement. It’s still a process they have to go through so it’s not going to be an open door for anyone to come in,” Ardinger said.
For Cormier, the possibility of having a company the city is already familiar with apply is a good thing.
“It’s good that we have what I feel is a company that will care about our community and deal with our concerns and be reputable,” he said. “At least we have a company that I think most of us feel comfortable with.”
Cormier, Bodanza, and Ardinger all said, apart from Prime Wellness Centers, they have not heard of any other company interested in opening a recreational marijuana dispensary in the city.
In addition to getting a new permit, or possibly getting its existing one amended, Bodanza said Prime Wellness Centers will also have to negotiate a new community host agreement, which outlines annual financial payments a marijuana retailer makes to its host community separate from taxes. A host agreement has already been signed between Mayor Dean Mazzarella and the company for its medical sales.
Bodanza said the company could also potentially have retail sales at its Lock Drive location, rather than having to building something new in a different industrially-zoned site in Leominster.
“One of the things they have to show is whether it will be separate or not, and then they would have to amend security plans depending on what they’re showing for a new or amended use,” he said.
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