DEERFIELD — The site plan review and stormwater management process for SunnyDayz’s marijuana dispensary, cultivation facility and research lab will continue to May, as the company works with its peer reviewer.
Following a site walk last week, the company addressed several questions on Monday that had been left unanswered at the end of its March review pertaining to updated traffic estimates, a tree-cutting plan and odor mitigation at its proposed “cannabis campus.” SunnyDayz is working with engineering company VHB and Berkshire Design Group is conducting the peer review.
“Our hope is between now and the next meeting, Berkshire Design and VHB work out all the drainage issues,” said VHB Office Manager John Furman, “so that the peer review letter can say they have been addressed.”
SunnyDayz’s proposed plan is to put a road through the wooded property on Routes 5 and 10 and construct a 5,000-square-foot testing lab, 26,705-square-foot indoor cultivation facility and a 3,539-square-foot dispensary, along with all relevant parking, lighting and utility upgrades needed. The company owns 28 acres of land on two lots south of the Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital and southwest of Tree House Brewing Co., and will only use about 5 acres for its project.
Previously, the Planning Board had questions about data used to calculate the business’ traffic study because it applied a Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) growth formula to 2016 data due to the pandemic’s impact on traffic. On Monday, Furman shared a recently commissioned traffic study of Routes 5 and 10 that showed their initial traffic estimate was higher than the actual number of vehicles traveling through town.
On average, there are 3,575 northbound and 3,594 southbound daily trips on the road, compared to the estimated 9,019 northbound and 6,802 southbound trips resulting from MassDOT’s growth formula, according to a March 28 letter sent to the Planning Board by Furman.
The board also had questions about SunnyDayz’s intention to get a waiver for the town’s tree inventory and replacement bylaws, which require identifying trees with a circumference of 25 inches or greater and the replacement of trees removed for construction. After the site visit, though, several members felt more comfortable with removing 5 acres of forest.
“When we went through, I was anticipating a much denser forest,” said Planning Board Vice Chair Denise Mason. “I feel pretty confident about their plans with trees at this point.”
Fellow Planning Board members Emily Gaylord and Andrea Leibson noted that while the expected construction area has a low population density of trees, the entrance area provides ample landscape screening for the facilities.
“From the road, I don’t even know if the building is going to be visible,” Gaylord said, with Leibson adding the noise from Routes 5 and 10 was also muffled by the trees.
Informed by average figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Furman and SunnyDayz Chief Cultivation Officer and co-owner Ken Bouquillon said an estimated 905 of the 5,068 trees on the entire 28-acre site are expected to be removed. However, they said the majority of them are smaller trees and they plan on preserving the vast majority of their two parcels.
“All we’re really intending to do at this point is clear these 5 acres,” Furman explained. “We have no plans to clear-cut them or open cut them. … We are only cutting these trees to the point that we are needing it for development or grading.”
Bouquillon added he expects “less than 25 large trees” to be removed.
Furman and Bouquillon also touched on the planned energy efficiency of the facilities and their odor-mitigation plan. Bouquillon said they are going above and beyond the minimum efficiency requirements and there should be absolutely no odor emanating from their indoor cultivation facility. He also noted he’s seen many complaints in general about marijuana odors in rural communities around the state, but residents often don’t have a problem with traditional farm smells.
“This is a farming community and this is farming,” he said. “This is controlled environment agriculture … and no smell will be getting outside our building.”
With those details smoothed over, the Planning Board moved to continue to the site plan review and stormwater management process to its May 8 meeting. Planning Board Chair Analee Wulfkuhle said on Wednesday that she expects the meeting to revolve around the stormwater plan and the final peer review letter from Berkshire Design Group.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.