WHATELY – The Selectboard has approved Greenjeans Farms’ host community agreement for a marijuana cultivation establishment at Long Plain Farm at 149 Christian Lane.
The property, which abuts Whately Elementary School, had its community agreement approved, but must navigate many more obstacles along the way before it can operate.
“There’s many things that could prevent Julie and her group from being successful at this location and that’s sort of on her to do her due diligence to really understand what is going on at that particular site,” Selectboard member Joyce Palmer-Fortune said at a Sept. 8 meeting. “It has some particular problems.”
Those problems were not elaborated on during the meeting, and neither Town Administrator Brian Domina nor Palmer-Fortune were able to be reached for comment.
Despite the problems, Domina and Palmer-Fortune, who negotiated the agreement, said those issues should be confronted in the future and should not affect the host community agreement.
“You’ve got a bumpy road ahead of you,” Palmer-Fortune said. “I don’t think this HCA should be a roadblock.”
Julie Beauchemin, of Greenjeans Farms LLC, didn’t add any further comments to the discussion and thanked the Selectboard for their cooperation in ironing out a deal.
“I appreciate you guys hearing me and working with me on it,” Beauchemin said.
Selectboard Chair Jonathan Edwards questioned if the agreement had any additional requirements related to working with Whately Elementary for educational purposes because of the cultivation site’s close proximity to the school.
“Was there any conversation on additional education opportunities because it is literally in the back neighborhood,” Edwards said. “If it were to happen, how do we turn that into a educable moment for the most impressionable people in our community.”
He continued and said he was just throwing the idea out there.
“Maybe there’s nothing, but I just can’t help but wonder whether the HCA could speak to additional things because of geographic footprint,” Edwards said. “Maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree but I’m just asking.”
Palmer-Fortune said the agreement had the same standard requirements the town wants out of all marijuana cultivators and no additional requirements were added.
“It didn’t come up in our conversations, we have really based our HCAs on giving everybody the same responsibilities,” Palmer-Fortune said. “It’d be really hard to justify it based on physical proximity when they are abiding by the setbacks in our bylaws.”
Greenjeans Farms still requires a site plan approval from the Planning Board and a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals. It will be a family-managed “craft marijuana cooperative,” according to Beauchemin at a July 21 Selectboard meeting.
Beauchemin said the farm’s design “fits in with the agricultural character of Whately,” and limited construction of a new greenhouse and storage warehouse will be needed.
“We plan on utilizing existing greenhouses and it will all be sun-grown, with no artificial lighting,” Beauchemin said in July. “We’ll have a cedar fence to conceal the greenhouses to make sure it fits in with the character of the town. A chain-link fence is easier to climb and doesn’t look as good.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.