Special Town Meeting considers recreational marijuana

Oct 29, 2019

MATTAPOISETT — In a Special Town meeting on Monday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Old Rochester Regional High School, Mattapoisett voters will weigh in on a proposed bylaw change that would allow recreational marijuana cultivation.

The town’s current bylaw allows for medical marijuana treatment centers, but not cultivation for recreational use. If the bylaw is changed, Cape Cod realtor Stuart Bornstein intends to use his warehouse property at 5 Industrial Drive as a cultivation facility.

When asked about why voters should approve the bylaw change, Bornstein explained that with 3% of gross sales going to the Town of Mattapoisett “the town’s got to look at it as an opportunity.”

Although she declined to comment on her personal beliefs on the proposed bylaw change, or cultivation of marijuana, Mattapoisett Administrator of Assessing Kathleen Costello confirmed the potential economic benefits for the town that industrial facilities bring.

“The only way we can offset the impact on residential people from taxation, is through industrialization,” Costello said.

Bornstein previously discussed his plans for the facility at a Mattapoisett Planning Board meeting on Oct. 7. According to Bornstein and his consultants James Sullivan and Jason Dick, the facility would be over 140,000 square feet, and use about 90,000 square feet for marijuana cultivation.

No marijuana would be sold at the facility, it would instead be shipped to other locations that legally sell the product in Massachusetts. 

With wholesale prices for a pound of marijuana going for $4,000 to $6,000 and a portion of revenue going to the town, Bornstein said that he could raise millions of dollars for Mattapoisett in the first couple years of operation.

He said  The facility would employ 50 to 100 people, and would focus on hiring local residents for the business. Both full-time and part-time positions would be available, with some skilled labor positions paying as high as $40 to $50 an hour.

He added that the product grown in the facility would be “as secure as money in a bank.”

The proposed business would not be allowed to be located within 500 feet of a school, state-licensed child care center, park, public beach, religious facility, or a similar facility “in which minors commonly congregate” according to the bylaw.

Bornstein later told Sippican Week that he already has a few qualified applicants interested in running the facility, but  that he will not make a final decision before the Nov. 4 vote.

Despite Bornstein’s confidence in his plans for the facility, some residents who attended the Planning Board Meeting had reservations about allowing recreational marijuana cultivation in the town.

One resident submitted a letter to the planning board, citing his brother’s experience with living near cultivation facilities in Santa Barbara County, California. In discussing greenhouse facilities that were converted to grow marijuana the letter said “the resulting dead skunk stench, particularly when cannabis plants are flowering, has become a huge problem and source of controversy in the neighborhoods in which those facilities are located.”

To address these concerns, Dick said that unlike greenhouses that were never built to contain strong odors, the proposed facility in Mattapoisett would be equipped with air scrubbers and an HVAC system, that would make it much more similar to a current facility in Taunton, where Dick said that the smell is not apparent until directly on the property.

Mattapoisett resident Cristin Cowles voiced her apprehensions about the bylaw change and said that “my main concern is that the plan feels very conforming to the industry, and not necessarily looking out for the good of the town.”

She added that with the only revenue estimates coming from the owner of the facility and his consultants, the town should perform objective estimates before moving forward with the facility. 

The Planning Board ultimately voted 3-1 to recommend the bylaw change for the Special Town Meeting.

Planning Board Secretary Mary Crain said that if the bylaw change is approved, the owner of a cultivation facility would need approval from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, a Special Permit and Site Plan Review from the Planning Board, and a Post Community Agreement with the town before cultivation could begin.

She added that any cultivation facility would be limited to the small industrial zone within Mattapoisett on either side of Industrial Drive.