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Town Manager Announces Marijuana Establishment Review Committee’s recommendations for Adult Use Retail Cannabis Businesses

Posted on: July 25, 2023 - 9:10am

Town Manager Announces Marijuana Establishment Review Committee’s recommendations for Adult Use Retail Cannabis Businesses

Click Here for Town of Saugus Marijuana Establishment Review Committee Report

(Saugus, MA) July 24, 2023 – Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree today announced that the Marijuana Establishment Review Committee has completed its work and recommends to the Town Manager two companies that responded to Saugus’ Request for Information (RFI) for Adult Use Cannabis businesses that was issued in January and due in February. The Committee’s report is being made public today.

Town Meeting authorized the zoning of Adult Use Cannabis businesses in May 2022, and that change was approved by the Attorney General in November 2022. In late January, Saugus issued an RFI for interested parties and received seven responses.

The goal of the Review Committee was to provide guidance about the respondents that are best suited to operate an Adult Use Retail Marijuana dispensary in the Town of Saugus to the Town Manager. The Review Committee, comprised of Town Officials with expertise in public safety, public health, and zoning and planning reviewed each response, comprised of thousands of pages and materials, with a specific focus on a variety of critical factors including but not limited to: respondents’ track record of successfully operating an Adult Use Marijuana retail dispensary; plans for safety and security; proposed locations and their impacts on the Town and its residents; on-site reviews of respondents’ current business operations; and, contingencies that could prevent or delay a successful opening related to zoning or other Town Board or Commission approvals.

After a comprehensive five-month process, the Review Committee recommends that two of the respondents move forward to be granted Special Permits, Uma Flowers and Sanctuary Medicinals.

Once respondents secure Special Permits, the Review Committee and the Town Manager will address and negotiate critical elements related to the responses, the economic benefits to the Town and the respondents’ diversity plans. These critical elements will be finalized during the Host Community Agreement negotiations.

Click Here for Town of Saugus Marijuana Establishment Review Committee Report