BERNARDSTON — Though Happy Valley Compassion Center, a nonprofit medical marijuana organization, had planned to operate a grow facility at 199 Huckle Hill Road, the organization’s founders are considering a new location altogether.
During a Board of Selectmen’s meeting recently, the organization’s three co-founders proposed potentially moving to a property on Northfield Road behind The Inn at Crumpin-Fox.
“It’s not as desirable as when we originally looked at it,” said Happy Valley Compassion Center Co-Founder Patrick Cloney of the Huckle Hill Road property. The building is a former restaurant that was most recently called Bella Notte.
“The number one factor is economics and what makes the most sense for the business,” Jim Counihan, chief executive officer of Happy Valley Compassion Center, later told The Recorder.
“We want to find the right location that makes sense from a business standpoint and the town’s standpoint as the host of the business,” Counihan continued. “We’re in the middle of those decision processes. Huckle Hill is still an option.”
Happy Valley Compassion Center has been leasing the Huckle Hill property since this summer. Counihan said during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting Thursday that they’ve already begun construction to properly outfit it for growing purposes, but slowed down drastically when licensing became difficult.
“The reason we started considering (the Northfield Road property) is there’s been an ongoing disagreement between Bernardston and the Department of Public Health as to whether Huckle Hill Road was zoned properly,” Counihan said after the meeting.
He explained that currently, the law allows the grow facility to be anywhere in Bernardston — a Right to Farm town — as an agricultural endeavor. However, the Bernardston zoning bylaw also calls for medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) to be in the expedited permitting district, which includes the Northfield Road property. The law does not differentiate between grow and retail facilities.
“(The Board of Selectmen’s) belief was as a grow, we should be able to do it anywhere in town,” Counihan noted. “The important thing to do was to try and see if there was other land available. We had looked at the (Northfield Road) land before.”
Having applied for a provisional certificate of registration from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in April, which is needed to start growing medical marijuana, Happy Valley Compassion Center finally received a certificate Oct. 31.
Should the organization decide to move to Northfield Road, the Department of Health would require only an updated letter of support from the Board of Selectmen. There is no existing building at the Northfield Road lot, which isn’t visible from the road, so the organization would be building a grow facility from scratch.
Counihan and his business partners agreed to meet with the Selectmen again when they’re certain which location would be the best fit for Happy Valley Compassion Center.
Another topic that was discussed during the meeting was the steps Happy Valley Compassion Center will take to ensure their grow facility — at whichever property they choose — is secure.
“It’ll be a very complex and involved security process,” Counihan said during the meeting, describing a perimeter fence and 24/7 video monitoring.
Bernardston Police Chief James Palmeri attended to discuss police response in case of a break-in or other crime. Happy Valley Compassion Center’s representatives proposed potentially hiring another full-time police officer.
“We want to pay for the impacts that we bring to the town. We don’t want to be a drain,” Cloney added.
The Board of Selectmen also wanted to know if the legalization of recreational marijuana would change Happy Valley Compassion Center’s endeavors, should Massachusetts voters approve it on election day.
“For us, from the very beginning we’ve said we’re going after medical licenses,” Counihan said. “We certainly would look at expansion when there’s more around the law.”
No matter what property Counihan and his partners decide to move forward with, Counihan told The Recorder he is committed to keeping the organization within Bernardston.