The Planning Board’s site plan review for Coil Brothers’ proposed marijuana processing facility was continued for the second time this week, despite some progress since the board’s previous meeting. After reviewing Coil Brothers’ revised plans at its Oct. 29 meeting, the board voted to continue the hearing Nov. 19, to provide time for Coil Brothers and the board to gather more information. Counting board members and town officials, approximately 30 people were present at the meeting.
Coil Brothers is a marijuana manufacturing company seeking to locate at the Appleworks Building at 325 Ayer Road in suite 116A, the far left side of the building. It will process approximately 6 to 12 pounds of raw cannabis per day and sell the resulting oils wholesale to other marijuana businesses. Coil’s representatives have repeatedly stated that they expect the business to be nearly invisible once it is running, as no retail customers will be visiting the building and deliveries will be handled by a single unmarked van arriving approximately once per day.
At the previous hearing, Coil Brothers requested a variance allowing the facility to begin operation at 8 a.m. rather than 10 a.m. as required by the town’s bylaw governing marijuana businesses. Patrick McCarty, an engineer hired by Coil Brothers to present the company’s plans, explained that the long operating cycles of the machine Coil Brothers plans to use make the extra two hours necessary for the business to be cost efficient. While the Planning Board told Coil Brothers representatives at the last meeting that such a variance would have to be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals, this time Director of Community and Economic Development Christopher Ryan explained that, due to the flexibility of the special permit process, the Planning Board would be responsible for issuing or denying such a variance. Planning Board member Rich Maiore later remarked that “this should give us some more leverage.”
Fred Hamway, a Planning Board consultant hired to review the plans, questioned the parking at the Appleworks building at the previous meeting. He noted that Coil Brothers had been allocated just two spaces when the square footage of the facility would normally require three, and that these two spaces were not regulation-sized. At this meeting, McCarty presented a plan to expand the two allocated spaces to the necessary dimensions. He also explained that Appleworks has an existing variance for its limited parking and argued that since Coil Brothers expects to require less parking than previous tenants, it should be covered. Planning Board members appeared to agree.
A secure loading area
The main point of contention at the last meeting was a proposed secure loading area that would be entered directly off Ayer Road. Planning Board members felt that this arrangement would cause traffic issues on the already busy road and noted that the area was too small to accomodate large delivery vehicles. At this meeting, McCarty presented a revised plan in which the loading area is instead entered from the front driveway of Appleworks and is parallel to the front of the building, directly in front of Coil Brothers’ suite. While this secure area would handle deliveries of cannabis products, gas canisters and other large deliveries would come through the building’s regular delivery dock in the rear of the building, which can accommodate larger vehicles. While engineer Fred Hamway, Planning Board consultant, noted that the new plan would still interrupt traffic flow within the driveway, Planning Board members seemed satisfied.
Coil Brothers also provided new standard operating procedures (SOPs) in response to the board’s previous request for more detail. The board judged the new documents, hundreds of pages in length, to be sufficient, but this created a new problem: they are too technically detailed for a non-specialist to understand. Ryan suggested hiring a consultant, but at Maiore’s suggestion, the Planning Board instead settled on a plan to have the Board of Health review them for safety before the next meeting. The new plans are based heavily on those of the Colorado company where Coil Brothers’ biochemist Carolyn Burek worked, as that company serves as the model for Coil Brothers’ business.
Citizens react
Many concerned citizens attended and asked questions, including Theresa Hoggins of Ann Lees Road and Will and Lisa Engler of Babbit Lane, proponents of a citizen petition to ban all commercial marijuana activity in Harvard. Many of the questions stemmed from a concern that Coil Brothers could be approved as a marijuana manufacturer but then pivot into retail sales. Citizens were reassured that for this to occur, Coil Brothers would have to go through the entire approval process from the beginning, as though it were an entirely new business, both locally and with the state cannabis commision. Citizens also voiced opinions and concerns about marijuana in general and proposed changes to Harvard’s bylaws, but they were reminded by Planning Board members to stick to discussing the specific case of Coil Brothers.
The Planning Board assigned members Maiore and Justin Brown to draft a letter to the Select Board with their impressions and concerns regarding Coil Brothers. Board members expressed concern about Coil Brothers’ odds of success as a business but recognized that such concerns fall under the jurisdiction of the Select Board. At its Oct. 16 meeting, the Select Board decided to begin negotiating a host community agreement with Coil Brothers before the Planning Board finished its special permit review.
