Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
April 9, 2018
Town Hall Inspectors’ Office
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Otis Town Hall Inspectors’ Room. The meeting is recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Michael Ernst, Jim Kauffman, Rona Knight, Jen Daily, Hal Kobrin, Al Koivisto, Larry Gould, Terry Gould, Juanita O’Rourke, Kevin O’Rourke, Matt Puntin, Wayne Moon, Sabino Caracciolo, Ahmed Akil, Kathy Carroll, Russ Kitson
Approval of Minutes: The February 12, 2018 Planning Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written. Hal made the motion to accept and Jim seconded.
Discuss a Recreational Marijuana Farm: Three partners in Bay State Canna Holdings, LLC are interested in establishing a wholesale recreational marijuana farm on 65 acres on Algerie Road, Map 12 Lot 24. This property is owned by Dominic Scarfo. They want to construct a 10,000 square foot greenhouse for their growing and extraction operations. They hope to produce 100 to 200 pounds of dry flowers which they hope will bring in $200,000, maybe up to $500,000 in sales per month. To do this they will need light deprivation for proper growing, they will have production and processing on site, they will have 6 to 10 jobs initially and hope to bring that up to 40 plus jobs. This is wholesale only, no retail sales, outside of town.
They were hoping to get a host agreement with the town so they could have it for their May 1, 2018 licensing application. This host agreement would have to be issued by the Select Board. There is a workshop in Lenox on April 24, 2018 for Recreational Marijuana and Michael asked Hal if he would be willing to attend the workshop. Hal accepted.
The three gentlemen also informed Planning Board members and the Zoning Board members in attendance that they would be required to have outdoor lighting for security purposes, as well as security 24/7 and security gating as is required by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. They need to remain in compliance with this commission’s rules in order to keep their licensing. They also proposed dimming capabilities determined by motion and directional lighting for the outdoor lighting. Rona asked to see a copy of the commission’s requirements and Michael requested to see a written agreement with the property owner.
Rona asked about the air quality that would be released from the manufacturing process. She was informed it would be contained in a sealed air C1D1 extraction container. The production will not release any hazardous gases as they will be contained. This is also regulated by the state. They also plan to have a long driveway with tall fencing and a lot of tree cover. Shipping and receiving was also discussed and they do not anticipate heavy trucks or increased activity.
They were requested to present an Operational Plan, a Financial Plan, show the location of the building on the property, and then they would have to formally go through a Site Plan Review. Depending on the results of that, they may then need to go through Zoning and the Board of Health for variances, Building Dept., and Conservation.
1367 Reservoir Road: Matt Puntin from SK Design had a preliminary plan for developing the site owned by D & J Development, formerly the Waters Edge property of Otis Lake Partners. The preliminary plan had 10 townhouse buildings with six 2 bedroom units per building on 35 acres. This allows for 120 bedrooms, which is over the 88 bedrooms allowed under the formula specified in Section 4.4 Multi-Family Dwellings and Section 7.3 Town House Development of the Town of Otis Zoning Bylaws. The plan has one master drilled well with its own public water supply, includes parking for residents, parking for the boat launch area, and two primary septic systems for the south units and for the north units. Pools, tennis courts, and other amenities may be added in the future. Both Planning, Zoning, and the Zoning Enforcement Officer suggested they rework the plan so as to be in compliance with both sections of the Zoning Bylaws. It was noted when the bylaws were first developed, there was a lot of contention with multi-unit buildings and townhouses and Planning Board members believe variances could be tough to get.
BRPC Recreational Marijuana Workshop: As discussed in the second topic above, Hal will be attending as the Otis representative and will report back.
New Head of BRPC: Tom Matuszko will become the new BRPC Director when Nat Karns retires. Hal asked to be signed up for Nat’s Retirement Party.
Other:
Chapter 91 Dock Licensing: Planning Board members signed the Chapter 91 Dock Licensing for the O’Rourke’s who own Round Island in Otis Reservoir. Signoff was required by DEP.
Jenny moved the meeting be adjourned, Jim seconded, and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:08 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Planning Board Clerk
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the email and a preliminary townhouse site proposal from SK Designs will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the flyer for the Recreational Marijuana Workshop will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the DLS bulletin on Local Option Excise on Retail Marijuana Sales will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Common Ground newsletter announcing Tom’s promotion and Nat’s Retirement Party announcement will be filed with these meeting minutes.