MJ’s Market is first to receive a marijuana special permit in Grafton

There are three marijuana businesses racing to get one of two licenses available in the town of Grafton. MJ’s Market on Monday became the first to receive a special permit from the Planning Board.

That doesn’t mean they’ll be the first across the finish line. Months of review by the state Cannabis Control Commission remain, as well as the hoops any business have to jump through — building permits, construction. The two groups that remain in the running, Resinate and Noble Manna, Inc., still have potential to squeeze by.

But when Grafton’s two recreational marijuana spots are filled, what happens to the third business in line?

Town Counsel Ginny Sinkel Kramer addressed the ruling in a letter (attached below) to Town Administrator Tim McInerney and Town Planner Joe Laydon. Grafton’s bylaws allow the number of licenses permitted to be limited to 20 percent of the number of liquor licenses issued in the town.

“Unless and until the by law is amended, a maximum of two RMEs may be sited in Grafton,” Kramer wrote. “Although the law allows municipalities to enact such limitations, it gives no guidance on when during the application process a municipality should or must enforce local limits. Although we have sought guidance from the Cannabis Control Commission… they have declined to opine on this issue.”

Kramer said her opinion is that once the CCC has determined an application is complete, if the town already has two marijuana licenses procured, the town can then inform the CCC that a third will not be allowed.

MJ’s Market intends to cultivate and sell marijuana at 13 Centennial Drive. The facility would employ about 40 people. 

“What comes next is dealing with the CCC for however long that takes,” Chairman David Robbins said.

Still midway through the process with the town is Resinate, which has a cultivation and manufacturing site in Douglas and a retail location in Worcester. The store would be located in 3,000 square feet of space inside 135 Westboro Road in North Grafton, beside Pecorino and near the Grafton commuter rail station. Noble Manna, Inc. — owned by former Selectman Bruce Spinney, who stepped down from the board to pursue the license — has a proposal for a retail business at 130 and 134 Worcester St.