It’s officially a race to the finish line for Grafton marijuana retailers
The Select Board officially adopted a “First Across the Finish Line” policy for marijuana retailers and growers who wish to set up shop in Grafton.
The move put in writing an unofficial policy which the town has operated under for the past two years. While four potential businesses have signed Host Community Agreements, Grafton has only two licenses to give away.
And while it’s been including marijuana income in financial projections since 2018, none are close to opening.
Nature’s Remedy, which has a store in Millbury, was one of the first to apply for Grafton, but has yet to move forward. MJ’s Market, which intends to cultivate and sell marijuana, has received an OK from the state Cannibis Control Commission and recently applied for permits from the town building department for its intended facility. Resinate has also passed through the CCC. Noble Manna, Inc., run by former Selectman Bruce Spinney, is close to opening in Mendon, but its Grafton prospects (under the name Discern’d Cannabis Purveyors) remain slim after June’s Town Meeting refused to increase the number of marijuana retailers permitted in town to three.
“There’s not a lot of direction for communities in figuring out how this is all going to happen,” Select Board member Ed Prisby said.
The policy calls for all current applicants to be informed that only the first two businesses who complete all the hurdles set by the Cannabis Control Commission will be allowed to operate in Grafton and asks that they act “with post haste” on getting their properties in order. The town will also notify the CCC when it has reached its licensing limit.
It does not address what will happen to a business that is in the process of developing a property when the limit is reached.
Select Board member Doreen DeFazio, the sole person to vote against the policy, said she was concerned about potential liability for the town, as well as Grafton’s reputation of partnering with businesses.
“We don’t have a plan,” she said. “We don’t have any sort of enforcement mechanism in place.”
