NEWBURYPORT – A North Reading-based company, which won Planning Board approval for a marijuana cultivation business in the city’s industrial park, will hold an informational meeting next month to get the public up to speed on the plans.
The owners of RiverRun Gardens plan to open a “microbusiness” in the industrial park, growing marijuana that would be sold to licensed medical and recreational marijuana businesses in the state.
The meeting at City Hall on April 3 would be a public outreach hearing, according to the owners.
The 7 p.m. hearing, part of the Planning Board’s weekly meeting, would address the cultivation of marijuana plants for sale to other licensed pot-based businesses in the state.
RiverRun Gardens is considered a microbusiness operation with a proposal for a footprint of less than 5,000 square feet on Perkins Row, according to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. The hearing would cover security measures and the possible impact on city residents. All those attending would be able to ask questions.
In August, the Planning Board granted RiverRun Gardens owners Ed M. DeSousa and his father, “Big Ed” X. DeSousa of North Reading a special permit to grow marijuana to be used for medical and recreational purposes.
The DeSousas operate RiverRun out of their North Reading corporate headquarters, and said they hope to relocate all operations to the Newburyport location.
While the DeSouzas are apparently thinking small, another company, HVV Newburyport, is looking to build an 85,000-square-foot marijuana cultivation site elsewhere in the business park.
In December, HVV Newburyport officials went before the Planning Board, hoping it would grant them a special permit to build a facility at 2 Opportunity Way. The special permit attempt came a month after a judge annulled the board’s decision to approve the permit for the business park.
HVV Newburyport owner Michael D. Reardon bought the 4.8-acre property for $8.6 million in August and said he plans to convert the building into a first-class marijuana processing and research facility with “thousands” of cannabis plants and employ 70 people.
After the Planning Board issued a special permit to RiverRun Gardens, the City Council approved two zones where retail marijuana shops could open — one near the Route 1 traffic circle and another on Storey Avenue near Low Street.
The decision sparked concern among many residents, who banded together and successfully petitioned the city to hold a vote in November on whether to allow retail marijuana shops to open within city limits. Retail marijuana shops are likely to open in Amesbury and Salisbury by November.
The debate over whether to allow retail marijuana shops in Newburyport led to the formation of advocacy groups on both sides: Opt Out Newburyport and Adult Use Cannabis Newburyport. Calls on Sunday to the leaders of both groups seeking comment on RiverRun Gardens were not immediately returned.
For more information on RiverRun Gardens, see http://riverrungardens.com.
Daily News reporter Jack Shea contributed to this story.
Staff writer Dave Rogers can be reached at drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
Recent Comments