HADLEY — In a reversal of an August decision by the Planning Board, Hadley’s first medical marijuana dispensary has been approved for a site on Route 9.
The Planning Board voted unanimously Oct. 4 to issue the special permit for the Happy Valley Compassion Center at 457 Russell St., said William Dwyer, the board’s clerk.
Although the board originally voted 3-2 on Aug. 2 in favor of the application, the special permit needed four votes for approval. John Mieczkowski and Joseph Zgrodnik, who voted against it, at the time expressed concern that the site, a former Sunoco gas station, was within 500 feet of a neighboring property being converted into the Hampshire Mosque.
Representatives of the mosque wrote a letter to the board stating that in the future it may be considered a place where children congregate.
State law requires a 500-foot buffer zone between medical marijuana dispensaries and “any facility in which children commonly congregate.”
In a letter to the board from attorney Joel Bard of Kopelman and Paige, Bard wrote that the decision should be made based on what currently exists at the site, not what might happen in the future, Dwyer said. He added that the former Adventure Outfitters is still a construction site as it is being converted into a mosque and other retail uses.
In addition, state regulations do not define toy stores and ice cream stands as places children congregate, so the Friendly’s restaurant at 455 Russell St. would not prevent the medical marijuana dispensary.
The Hadley operation is the third medical marijuana dispensary approved in Hadley and Amherst.