BERNARDSTON — After considering whether to move forward with operating a medical marijuana grow facility at 199 Huckle Hill Road or behind The Inn at Crumpin-Fox, the three co-founders of Happy Valley Compassion Center have decided to pursue both.
According to Jim Counihan, chief executive officer of Happy Valley Compassion Center, the plan is for the Huckle Hill Road building, which was previously the Bella Notte restaurant, to supply medical marijuana for dispensaries in Greenfield and Hadley, and the property off Northfield Road to supply a dispensary in Orange.
Both lots, he said, have their benefits. The Huckle Hill Road property, which Happy Valley Compassion Center has been leasing since last summer, has an existing building, but the topography of the property would have made later expansion difficult.
By contrast, the 6.6 acres the nonprofit medical marijuana organization has been leasing from Crumpin-Fox has topography that lends itself to expansion, Counihan said, though Happy Valley Compassion Center will need to construct a building from scratch.
Counihan said construction within the former Bella Notte restaurant is set to start any time now. He explained previously that there are different steps in the grow process, and that the plants are segregated by room, meaning the construction workers will need to add dividing walls to compartmentalize the open floor plan.
He estimated Happy Valley Compassion Center could start growing at the Huckle Hill Road property as early as fall, having received a provisional certificate of registration (PCR) for the property from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Oct. 31.
Construction on the Northfield Road property, Counihan said, is still months out.
“We’re still working on the design and engineering of that property,” he said. Happy Valley Compassion Center received a PCR for that property in February.
The three dispensaries Happy Valley Compassion Center has proposed would affect the Sunoco gas station at 457 Russell St. in Hadley, the Sunoco station at 155 Main St. in Greenfield and two currently vacant properties at 172 and 174 Daniel Shays Highway in Orange.
Counihan said construction on the combined Orange lots, which Happy Valley Compassion Center has been leasing with the option to purchase since last fall, should start sometime in 2018. The organization still needs a building permit to start construction at the Hadley location, and a special permit required by zoning bylaws to move forward in Greenfield.
Counihan said the Greenfield gas station is being operated on a month-to-month lease.
“Our hope is the tenant will stay in there until we need the property to start construction,” he said. Counihan believes construction at the Hadley property will start in a few months, and at the Greenfield property late this year.
Ensuring Happy Valley Compassion Center’s plans gradually fall into place has been a lot of work, but fulfilling, Counihan said.
“This is where this project kind of gets exciting,” he said. “Up until now, it was all about the licensing process. Now it’s starting to feel real. We’re actually getting to build something.”
You can reach Shelby Ashline at:
sashline@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261 ext. 257