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Kitty Glines wanted to know how Jonathan Napoli plans to keep teenagers and criminals from stealing marijuana leaves once he starts growing the medical plants at 263 King St.
Glines, who lives on Foster Street, reminded him that the neighborhood is home to Littleton Middle School.
The cultivation would only take place inside the greenhouses, Napoli said, looking over the standing-room-only crowd gathering at Town Hall to hear about his proposal to open a medical-marijuana farm behind Beaver Brook. There would be fences all around the property with cameras and alarms, he said.
"As far as security goes, the (state) requirements are pretty over the top," Napoli said.
But Elizabeth Ahern of Florence Street doesn't see cultivation of medical marijuana as a suitable use of land anywhere in town. After all, marijuana cultivation and sales are banned under federal law, she said.
"It's a federal crime," Ahern said, asking the audience if they wanted their town to have the reputation of an outlaw.
Dozens of residents packed the joint meeting of selectmen and the Planning Board on Thursday night to attend the hearing on the proposal to use part of Cupp & Cupp Corp.'s land near the Interstate 495 exit ramp as a medical-marijuana cultivation site. Napoli, a Boston businessman who is originally from Acton, applied for a state license to do just that Thursday. If he is granted with one of the 35 licenses to be issued by the state, he hopes to modify 12,000 square feet of the existing greenhouse and grow the plants for medical use as allowed by state law.
Napoli said he has applied for a license for several locations, including Boston, and that the Littleton site would be only used for cultivation. Napoli has said Littleton is not too far from a community where he hopes to set up a retail site. Napoli has not disclosed his potential retail location, but told The Sun after the meeting that he is not involved in Shirley resident John Hiller's project to open a medical-marijuana dispensary in Ayer.
During Thursday night's meeting, Napoli fielded questions from residents in the audience through Planning Board member Peter Scott, who filled in for Chairman Mark Montanari, while Town Counsel Chris Heep explained how state law regarding marijuana dispensaries and cultivation works. Montanari, who lives on King Street and is an abutter to Cupp & Cupp's property, recused himself from the discussion.
Questions from the audience mostly centered around security issues. In addition to building security, the delivery of the harvested materials to the retail site would also be monitored and handled by a pair of drivers, Napoli said. Scott asked how much marijuana would be transported at a time, and Napoli said two to three pounds would be loaded into a secured box in a car.
Bill Perrine, head of Oak Meadow Montessori School on Old Pickard Lane, asked if Napoli would also consider Cupp's land behind the school as a potential site for the cultivation. Napoli said landowner Gerald Cupp first thought the Old Pickard Lane location might fit better for the cultivation. But Napoli believes the greenhouses there may be too close to a school, as state law requires a minimum of 500 feet between such sites and a school.
"I would love to have flexibility, but I'm not sure we have any," Napoli said of location choices.
The town has a moratorium on marijuana-related facilities through June 30 next year to give permitting boards the time to develop zoning bylaws for such use of land. Marijuana cultivation might be considered commercial agriculture, however, and special bylaws might not apply, Heep said. For the same reason, the moratorium may also not apply if a cultivation site is on agricultural land, Napoli said. Both Heep and Napoli said there are many gray areas that need to be worked out under state law.
Planning Board member Richard Crowley asked if it would be possible to create a special farm zone and set a separate tax rate for it. Heep said that would not be possible.
Selectmen Chairman Ted Doucette asked if a medical-marijuana farm would bring in any more tax revenue than a traditional farm. Napoli said that won't be likely, as medicine is nontaxable and all medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation must be a nonprofit operation under state law.
"There are a lot of greenhouses in Massachusetts, and many people would like to rent them to someone like me," Napoli said, adding that medical-marijuana growers would pay slightly more in rent than other users would for greenhouses.
Asked by The Sun, after the meeting, if he was concerned about the possibility of a marijuana farm being created behind his school, Perrine said he wanted to help the efforts to craft the zoning bylaw to be part of the solution.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: lowellsun.com
Author: Hiroko Sato
Contact: Contact Us - Lowell Sun Online
Website: Littleton gets first whiff of medical-marijuana plan (VIDEO) - Lowell Sun Online
Glines, who lives on Foster Street, reminded him that the neighborhood is home to Littleton Middle School.
The cultivation would only take place inside the greenhouses, Napoli said, looking over the standing-room-only crowd gathering at Town Hall to hear about his proposal to open a medical-marijuana farm behind Beaver Brook. There would be fences all around the property with cameras and alarms, he said.
"As far as security goes, the (state) requirements are pretty over the top," Napoli said.
But Elizabeth Ahern of Florence Street doesn't see cultivation of medical marijuana as a suitable use of land anywhere in town. After all, marijuana cultivation and sales are banned under federal law, she said.
"It's a federal crime," Ahern said, asking the audience if they wanted their town to have the reputation of an outlaw.
Dozens of residents packed the joint meeting of selectmen and the Planning Board on Thursday night to attend the hearing on the proposal to use part of Cupp & Cupp Corp.'s land near the Interstate 495 exit ramp as a medical-marijuana cultivation site. Napoli, a Boston businessman who is originally from Acton, applied for a state license to do just that Thursday. If he is granted with one of the 35 licenses to be issued by the state, he hopes to modify 12,000 square feet of the existing greenhouse and grow the plants for medical use as allowed by state law.
Napoli said he has applied for a license for several locations, including Boston, and that the Littleton site would be only used for cultivation. Napoli has said Littleton is not too far from a community where he hopes to set up a retail site. Napoli has not disclosed his potential retail location, but told The Sun after the meeting that he is not involved in Shirley resident John Hiller's project to open a medical-marijuana dispensary in Ayer.
During Thursday night's meeting, Napoli fielded questions from residents in the audience through Planning Board member Peter Scott, who filled in for Chairman Mark Montanari, while Town Counsel Chris Heep explained how state law regarding marijuana dispensaries and cultivation works. Montanari, who lives on King Street and is an abutter to Cupp & Cupp's property, recused himself from the discussion.
Questions from the audience mostly centered around security issues. In addition to building security, the delivery of the harvested materials to the retail site would also be monitored and handled by a pair of drivers, Napoli said. Scott asked how much marijuana would be transported at a time, and Napoli said two to three pounds would be loaded into a secured box in a car.
Bill Perrine, head of Oak Meadow Montessori School on Old Pickard Lane, asked if Napoli would also consider Cupp's land behind the school as a potential site for the cultivation. Napoli said landowner Gerald Cupp first thought the Old Pickard Lane location might fit better for the cultivation. But Napoli believes the greenhouses there may be too close to a school, as state law requires a minimum of 500 feet between such sites and a school.
"I would love to have flexibility, but I'm not sure we have any," Napoli said of location choices.
The town has a moratorium on marijuana-related facilities through June 30 next year to give permitting boards the time to develop zoning bylaws for such use of land. Marijuana cultivation might be considered commercial agriculture, however, and special bylaws might not apply, Heep said. For the same reason, the moratorium may also not apply if a cultivation site is on agricultural land, Napoli said. Both Heep and Napoli said there are many gray areas that need to be worked out under state law.
Planning Board member Richard Crowley asked if it would be possible to create a special farm zone and set a separate tax rate for it. Heep said that would not be possible.
Selectmen Chairman Ted Doucette asked if a medical-marijuana farm would bring in any more tax revenue than a traditional farm. Napoli said that won't be likely, as medicine is nontaxable and all medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation must be a nonprofit operation under state law.
"There are a lot of greenhouses in Massachusetts, and many people would like to rent them to someone like me," Napoli said, adding that medical-marijuana growers would pay slightly more in rent than other users would for greenhouses.
Asked by The Sun, after the meeting, if he was concerned about the possibility of a marijuana farm being created behind his school, Perrine said he wanted to help the efforts to craft the zoning bylaw to be part of the solution.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: lowellsun.com
Author: Hiroko Sato
Contact: Contact Us - Lowell Sun Online
Website: Littleton gets first whiff of medical-marijuana plan (VIDEO) - Lowell Sun Online
