The HCAs for both medical and recreational licenses already signed also require $50,000 up-front voluntary payment to the town to offset permitting, legal, and monitoring expenses. They also call for at least $10,000 per year in charitable contributions to recognized community groups from each license holder.
In Lakeville, at least one board has decided to make the license applicants pay even a little more at the local level to cover the costs of that review and permitting process.
Last week, the Lakeville Planning Board voted unanimously to charge recreational cannabis growers, processors, and sellers $1,240 for the special permit and site plan approval process required from the board by the town’s zoning bylaws.
A $1,000 fee will be assessed to cover costs of an independent consulting engineer hired to review submitted site plans, plus legal advertising, abutter notifications, and other administrative expenses. Another $240 will be assessed for the accompanying special permit processing.
The proposed increase was the subject of a Jan. 10 public hearing at the senior center, and no one showed up to discuss the matter. Planning Board Chair Brian Hoeg answered a few questions from fellow board members, and hearing no opposition to the fee hikes, called for a motion to approve.
He indicated that the new fees would apply to future applicants for recreational cannabis licenses for both “establishments” and retail stores, and testing and cannabis product manufacturers. Approval of the new fees came on a 5-0 vote.
Trichome Health Corp., is planning both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana sales outlets at its industrial park location in Lakeville. A second licensed cultivator, Nature’s Remedy, will grow and process both medical and adult use recreational cannabis at their industrial park site, but plans to leave the local retail operations for cannabis sales to another firm, Monroe Brothers, Inc.
Bryan and Kevin Monroe, the two businessmen seeking to operate an adult use recreational marijuana retail outlet at 310 Kenneth Welch Drive, recently met with selectmen for the first time to discuss taking over Nature’s Remedy’s retail license for that location.
In other business at the Jan. 10 meeting, the Planning Board also approved a modification of general special permit regulations, requiring applicants to pay all the costs of preparing abutters lists, certified mailings to those abutters, and related expenses. The changes passed with another unanimous vote.