Patient Centric secured unit 11 of Woodland Business Center in Vineyard Haven for retail sales of recreational marijuana. CEO Geoff Rose said it’s the first step in an ongoing process to cultivate and dispense adult-use marijuana on Martha’s Vineyard.
Next steps, according to Rose, are solidifying a host-community agreement with town officials in Tisbury. “I have notified the town that I want to move forward with that process,” Rose said, in addition to organizing a community outreach meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 6, at 5:30 pm, at the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven.
At their meeting Tuesday, selectmen were told by town administrator Jay Grande about the forum, but made no comment on the proposal.
“The site that he told us he has undertaken for a lease is a good place, we think, for such a thing to occur,” selectmen chair Melinda Loberg said Friday. “We haven’t had a discussion yet at selectmen level.”
Both the host community agreement and community outreach are requirements set by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) — the governing body of all medical and recreational marijuana establishments in Massachusetts — to obtain a recreational license. The host community agreement is an agreement between a marijuana establishment and the municipality in which it operates. Rose is familiar with the process, as he secured a host-community agreement with the town of West Tisbury for Patient Centric’s medical marijuana operations. Patient Centric’s medical dispensary is located on 510 State Rd. in West Tisbury. The cultivation site is on 90 Dr. Fisher Rd. in West Tisbury. The medical dispensary is still set to open late July.
Community outreach, however, is new territory for Rose as he delves into the logistics of opening a recreational marijuana establishment. The CCC requires applicants host the community outreach meeting within six months of applying for their recreational license. The purpose of the meeting is to provide information, answer questions, and touch on impacts to neighbors as well as the community at large. Rose said he will be providing information and answering questions at the meeting. Patient Centric staff will also attend.
Loberg said the town is open to talking with Rose about a host-community agreement. She’s pleased with his efforts to inform the public at the upcoming forum.
“People want to know what’s happening and be able to ask questions about the impact on the town,” she said. “I definitely applaud him for doing that.”
According to Rose, a bylaw passed in Tisbury defining geographies where adult-use retail sales can occur, and the site at Woodland Center is compliant with that. Aside from zoning, Rose said the location is also ideal because it’s set away from State Road, and not visible from the road. “It’s a more discreet area,” he said. Rose said he’s still working out the details for recreational cultivation, and hopes that they will be able to operate out of the site at 90 Dr. Fisher Rd. where Patient Centric will do medical cultivation. “That’s the goal,” he said. “We’re still in discussions.”
An interesting twist for marijuana sales on the Island is that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, which means it can’t be transported legally on the ferries over federal waters. That’s why cultivating it at 90 Dr. Fisher Rd. would be important.
George Brennan contributed to this report.
