New Haven deliberates limiting locations and boundaries for its future cannabis facilities

NEW HAVEN — Cannabis cultivation and retail facilities will be confined to business and industrial zones in the city, with strict boundaries away from schools and from each other, modeled on existing liquor laws.

Those rules and others were recommended by the City Plan Commission as it reviewed a proposed zoning ordinance that will go before the Board of Alders.

The commissioners added a few caveats to the ordinance as originally proposed, particularly that it make clear the street locations on the map of permitted areas.

At its meeting this week, Commissioner Carl Goldfield pushed for a moratorium on the zoning ordinance, pointing out that 37 towns have done just that, but the rest of the commissioners, after some discussion, felt the alders were ready to proceed.

“There is nothing like actual experience (of others) to see how this is going to operate in practice,” Goldfield said of bringing in representatives of cities to see how it worked elsewhere.

A total of 10 communities have approved zoning for such establishments, while 14 are prohibiting recreational marijuana locations.

Hamden has enacted a moratorium and established a task force; Norwalk enacted a nine-month moratorium; Hartford proposed allowing retailers downtown and in certain commercial-industrial areas as well as certain mixed-use zones near historic areas; Bridgeport has restricted cannabis businesses to adult zones.

Commissioner Edward Mattison said the city should have a series of meetings with speakers familiar with the issue and then a communitywide discussion. Commissioner Ernest Pagan said this “educational piece” would be crucial for the public.

The plan is set to be heard by the aldermanic Legislation Committee at 6 p.m. April 5.

As a body, the commissioners encouraged alders to have a robust public process to hear from individuals who already operate these kinds of programs.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said whether these changes are good for the city is germane to the

Board of Alders. The questions before City Plan are land use parameters and whether they are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan of Development.

Pagan said one of his concerns is the effect on other neighborhood businesses.

“I’m ready to move forward, but there still are a lot of questions to be had,” Pagan said,

Chairwoman Leslie Radcliffe said she also was concerned with the speed of implementing the zone changes, but felt it was incumbent on City Pan to make a recommendation now.

There were a number of things she wanted alders to consider in the legislation, but was advised these already were being taken care of.

One was to add language that not only excluded parks as areas where the businesses could locate, but also greenways and trails. City Plan Executive Director Laura Brown assured them they were covered.

The commission was told that financial help, as well as practical advice for entrepreneurs from neighborhoods impacted by the war on drugs, would be available under the social equity rules laid out in the state legislation.

It dropped advising alders to set aside some of the money the city will get from the businesses — some 3 percent of revenue — for individuals in the social equity program.

Mattison worried about keeping these enterprises on the “up and up” and avoiding any “hanky-panky,” given the amount of money involved, such as the $3 million fee to become a marijuana cultivator.

Dijonee Talley, a policy adviser to Mayor Justin Elicker, said there is a range of fees for the multiple license types, including $500 to $700 for a transport fee on the low end with $3 million for cultivators the highest.

Talley also explained that such businesses are highly regulated and said those now operating marijuana production and sales for medical uses blend in seamlessly throughout the state. She said this will be the case for the adult-use cannabis sales, as well.

Talley said she would provide a list of the security mandates that will be in place to assure the commissioners and the public in general.

The commissioners agreed with Goldfield that alders should consider whether to impose a time limit on the special permits the city will be asked to issue.

Talley said there are renewal periods for the various licenses in the state legislation.

City Attorney Roderick Williams said limits on special permits is an issue before the courts that could have an impact.

The state legalized the use and sale of marijuana in the Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis Act, which was effective July 1, 2021.

The types of licenses available include: producer, dispensary facility, microcultivator, retailer, hybrid retailer, food and beverage manufacturer, transporter and product packager.

New Haven can have up to five dispensary locations, according to the city, with the number of other licenses to be determined. Across the state there will be some 56 issued across all categories in the first round of applications.

The state already has opened up applications for the licenses, with 312 submitted for general licenses and 19 for the special equity program.

In New Haven, entrepreneurs, with a special permit, will be able to locate in the following business zones: BA, BA1, BA2, BA2, BB, BC, BD, BD1, BD2 and BD3. They also can be located in the Commercial Gateway District on Whalley Avenue, as well as in heavy and light industrial zones.

Establishments classified as transporters and product packagers can operate in the zones as of right, without a special permit.

All the businesses must locate 500 feet from the perimeter of schools up through grade 12, and 1,500 feet from each other. They cannot be located in residential areas, parks, cemeteries or airport zoning districts.

The proposal would also would keep them out of the River Street Municipal Development area, as well as the parcels in the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan and the Hill to Downtown Plan.