Public hearing on Revolutionary Clinics marijuana shop postponed to Nov. 8 – Leominster Champion

A public hearing on a proposed marijuana store near the Orchard Hill Park plaza originally scheduled for last week has been postponed until next week.

The Oct. 25 hearing on Revolutionary Clinics request for a special permit from the City Council to sell recreational marijuana at 130 Pioneer Drive has been moved to Monday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at Leominster City Hall.

Councilor John Dombrowski explained the applicant asked to postpone the meeting for two weeks because the Oct. 25 City Council meeting was short staffed, with two out of the boards eight members unable to attend.

By the Nov. 8 meeting, the City Council will gain a ninth member when the vacancy following the May death of Ward 1 Councilor Gail Feckley is filled. Ward 1 School Committee member Michael Stassen and local chef and restaurant owner William Brady ran for the seat in this weeks election, the results of which were not known by press time. The winner will serve not only the remaining weeks of Feckleys term, but also his own two-year term starting in January.

The zoning rules adopted by the Leominster City Council after marijuana was legalized in a 2016 referendum vote call for recreational marijuana to be sold in the Industrial zone, and only with a special permit from the City Council.

Section 13.7 of the City of Leominster Zoning Ordinance states that special permits require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of authorities with more than five (5) members and a vote of at least four (4) members of five (5) member authorities.

Revolutionary Clinics is seeking a special permit to open a recreational marijuana dispensary at 130 Pioneer Drive, near the junction of Pioneer Drive and Orchard Hill Park Drive. If approved, the Leominster dispensary would be located in a newly constructed 2,336-square-foot building with ground-up eco-friendly construction and an Apple Store meets Johnny Appleseed level clean energy.

The Leominster store would be Revolutionary Clinics fourth facility, joining shops in Cambridge and Somerville, but its first selling recreational marijuana. It also operates a growing facility called Revolutionary Farms in a former shoe factory in Fitchburg, the hometown of Revolutionary Clinics co-founder Ryan Ansin. Revolutionary Farms supplies products to both Revolutionary Clinics and other marijuana stores in Massachusetts.

According to a presentation on its website, Revolutionary Clinics would maximize fee and tax revenues through its Community Host Agreement with the City of Leominster, hire local Leominster residents for the dispensary, communicate frequently with leaders in local economic development, partner with local health officials to volunteer and fund educational sessions and materials, and support local causes with donations and volunteer work.

If approved by the City Council, Revolutionary Clinics store would be the first in Leominster. There are two marijuana manufacturing facilities in the city Middlesex Integrative Medicine at 25 Mohawk Drive and The Botanist, which makes marijuana edibles at 1775 Lock Drive and a third in the works from XH Management, Inc., which is seeking state licenses for a cultivation and manufacturing facility in the Southgate Business Park in South Leominster.

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Public hearing on Revolutionary Clinics marijuana shop postponed to Nov. 8 - Leominster Champion