The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
P&Z has quiet hearing on cannabis regulation
Public will have another chance to speak up
WINSTED — Few speakers attended a recent public hearing on proposed cannabis regulations in town, but the public will have another chance to speak for or against them later this month.
Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission continued the hearing when they realized the regulation, which would create three areas of town where cannabis retail and/or manufacturing businesses could be located, hadn’t been reviewed by town attorney Kevin Nelligan.
The regulation would allow cannabis businesses in the town center, the gateway areas of North Main Street/ routes 8 and 44, and the town’s production and innovation zone that includes industrial and manufacturing buildings. The commission began a review of the draft regulation in April.
The town center between
East End Park to the east and the Beardsley & Memorial Library to the west is not included in the regulation, meaning no retail cannabis store could open in that area, home to entities including Nutmeg Pottery, Town Hall or Kent Pizza.
According to the regulation, “No building, structure or premises shall be used and no building structure shall be constructed, reconstructed, extended, moved or altered that is intended or designed to be used as a cannabis retail, hybrid retailer, or microcultivator estabishment ... if (it) is situated within 200 feet of a residential zone, school or daycare building, place of worship or playground.”
State lawmakers gave their final approval for the bill, “An Act Concerning Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis,” in June 2021, legalizing the sale and cultivation of marijuana for
adults over 21. The legislation creates a structure for recreational marijuana markets and eliminates criminal convictions for certain marijuana-based offenses. Adults are allowed to have up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana with them and up to 5 ounces in a locked container in their home or car's glove compartment or trunk.
In May, Hearst Connecticut Media reported that more than 15,000 license applications for cannabisrelated businesses had been filed with the state Department of Consumer Protection. Some applicants are eligible for social equity, and must meet a variety of criteria including living in a “disproportionately impacted area” and having an average income over the last three years of no more than about $235,000. The impacted areas were determined based on past drug convictions and current unemployment rates.
Equity and non-equity winners will be selected in separate state-run lotteries. The cannabis Social Equity Council will vet the winners from the equity lottery to ensure they meet all the criteria. The state's existing 18 medical dispensaries can apply to become hybrid retailers, without having to go through the lottery.
Some have criticized what they see as a loophole in the lottery process: there's no limit to the number of applications an individual can submit. Critics argue that undermines the intent of Connecticut's law to create a marketplace that is equitable.
The non-refundable application fees for retailers are $250 for equity applicants and $500 for non-equity applicants. Some applicants likely submitted hundreds of applications each, in some cases duplicate submissions, to increase their chances of getting selected. Gallman said he and his partners only submitted one application.
Andréa Comer, chairwoman of the social equity council and deputy commissioner at the state Department of Consumer Protection, said in an interview on WNPR's Where We Live this week that between 15 and 20 applicants put in multiple submissions.
“On the one hand, we have robust applications,” Comer said. “On the other hand, the question is will there be dominance among certain applicants in terms of the number of applications they submitted.”
The state plans to hold mulitple lotteries and DCP can't issue a license to an applicant that already has two licenses of the same type or in the same license category.
Winsted, like other towns and cities across the state, is writing zoning regulations and ordinances to establish its own rules for the retail and wholesale sale of cannabis, as well as public use of cannabis, which designates areas where it cannot be smoked. In Torrington, the regulation addresses all smoking activities, including tobacco, vaping and cannabis.
Bryan Sundie was the lone speaker at the PCZ hearing this week. He is against cannabis businesses being allowed and asked about locations.
“I remain concerned about it, particularly in the downtown area,” he said.
“The Board of Selectmen has recommended that we exclude the businesses being allowed, from East End Park to the (library) on the west end, so that whole center area has been excluded,” Chairman George Closson said.
At that point, Zoning Officer Pam Colombie said the regulation still needed a legal review. “I thought you were going to carry this for two public hearings,” she said. “If you want (a review) you should continue the hearing ... in case there's some problem with it. Otherwise, procedurally, we might have to do (the hearings over) again.”
The next public hearing will be held June 27.