A Boston-area businessman who previously expressed interest in opening marijuana sales facilities in Tisbury is proposing a retail marijuana site at the Edgartown Triangle — the first such proposal for Edgartown since recreational marijuana sales were legalized statewide in 2016.
The proposal is set to come before the Edgartown selectmen at their meeting Monday.
The initial overture to the town began a year ago this past August, when Joshua Silver sent a letter to town administrator James Hagerty, informing him that he and his business partner Noah Eisendrath were interested in seeking a community host agreement for a retail marijuana shop at 20 Beach Road in Edgartown. The host agreement is a necessary first step in the long marijuana permitting process.
Located near the Triangle, the site includes about 0.4 acres of undeveloped land and is owned by Fred Mascolo, who owns the building that houses Your Market package store and Trader Fred’s — a bargain retail shop next door. The proposal calls for developing the parcel with approximately 2,500 square feet of improvements, according to the letter from Mr. Silver.
Mr. Silver operates an existing retail marijuana facility in Williamstown and is serving as a consultant for Mr. Eisendrath in the permitting process.
According to the letter, Mr. Eisendrath is a longtime West Tisbury summer resident who owns and operates bars in Allston, Boston and Brookline. He is the manager of an LLC called Main Street Medicinals, which seeks to open and operate a retail marijuana establishment in the state.
Both Mr. Silver and Mr. Eisendrath have worked together on a retail marijuana establishment and cultivation site proposed for 65 Mechanic Street in Tisbury. Main Street Medicinals obtained a community host agreement in April, but has not filed a special permit application.
The Edgartown site is the fourth proposed marijuana dispensary on the Island. Geoff Rose, who owns Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard, has cleared all state and local approvals for operating a medical marijuana dispensary off State Road in West Tisbury, and Mr. Rose has plans for a recreational sales facility at the same site. He has an off-site grow facility in West Tisbury, and is also proposing a dispensary site in Tisbury.
Speaking to the Gazette by phone, Mr. Silver said the prospect of a retail marijuana facility in Edgartown has been in the works for multiple years and grew from a friendship between Mr. Eisendrath and Mr. Mascolo.
“Noah and Trader Fred have known each other for a long time,” Mr. Silver said. “Fred has the property. He was interested in putting something there and developing it. Then he met Noah, who was interested in cannabis, and we ran with it.”
Edgartown recently updated its zoning bylaws to include a special permitting process for marijuana sales.
Mr. Silver said the facility plans to sell recreational and medicinal marijuana at the same site. Because cannabis cannot be legally transported over federal waters, marijuana dispensaries have to be vertically integrated, with the product grown and sold on the Island.
Mr. Silver said the businessmen remain interested in opening a Tisbury facility as well.
“One of the nuances about operating on the Island is that you can’t move cannabis on and off the Island, so it makes sense to have a cultivation facility that can feed multiple stores,” he said.
Main Street Medicinals will be required to formally apply for a community host agreement, hold a community outreach meeting and apply for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission for state licenses, as well as the town planning board.
“It’s a long process,” Mr. Silver said.
Comments (2)
Comments
Comment policy »