Danbury law would allow 4 types of marijuana business including recreational pot, but not on Main Street

“Once we say, ‘yes,’ we cannot say ‘no,’” said Paul Rotello, the City Council’s Democratic minority leader. “I think you want to start with some trepidation because you can always add to the ‘yes’ later, but you can’t make the ‘yes’ smaller.”

Rotello is referring to the general reaction of caution most cities and towns took when Connecticut’s state government decriminalized marijuana on July 1, 2021. Part of the reticence was leaders wanted time to understand the 300-page state law. Also apparent were concerns about how much official acceptance to give a drug that was once a public enemy.

Danbury responded by passing a temporary one-year ban on all applications for a new marijuana business — a moratorium that expires on July 29 but could be extended to give the city more time to debate the proposed regulations. Other communities such as Newtown responded with an all-out ban on cannabis establishments.

The local bans didn’t affect people’s rights to have up to 1.5 ounces of pot in their possession, and to have up to 5 ounces securely stored. In addition, the state law allowed patients in the medical marijuana program have a limited number of pot plants in their home.

Retail sales of recreational pot are not expected to begin in Connecticut until late this year, when Danbury could have in place a model cannabis regulation.

“We will have retail recreational pot sales in Danbury — it’s going to happen,” Rotello said. “So get ready for it.”

What the law says

In Danbury, the regulations would cap the total number of marijuana businesses according to category.

In other words, the regulations would allow for no more than two hybrid retailers that sell both medicinal marijuana and recreational pot to adults, or no more than three businesses in the following categories: one medicinal marijuana dispensary, one recreational pot retailer, and one hybrid retailer. In addition, the regulations would allow no more than one micro-cultivator — a small scale indoor plant producer whose “grow space” is between 2,000- and 10,000-square-feet.

Danbury’s existing medicinal marijuana dispensary on the west side that predated the city’s moratorium counts toward the cap contemplated in the proposed regulations.

The nine elected members of the city’s Zoning Commission will consider the proposed regulations at a July 12 meeting. The commission will have a public hearing before voting.

The president of the Republican-controlled City Council said he understands there are competing concerns and trusts the decision is in the right hands.

“I don’t think there is one answer that is going to make all people happy, but it is being handled by the right party and the process is being followed,” said Vinny DiGilio on Friday. “If the commission decides not to do something by the end of July, they have the option to extend (the temporary ban) and I have lot of confidence that they’ll come to the right decision.”

One option the regulations rule out is a marijuana business on Main Street — the city’s traditional civic and cultural center that has lagged behind economic development on the east end and the west side for decades. The regulations confine marijuana businesses to specific commercial zones that lie outside the Main Street corridor, in booming zones such as Mill Plain Road.

To be sure the message is clear the regulations are explicit, saying “Cannabis establishments shall not be permitted on lots which, in whole or in part, border on Main Street / Route 53 in Danbury.”

Among other restrictions in the regulations, patrons will not be able to consume cannabis in marijuana businesses, and marijuana businesses must have a written “odor abatement program” as a condition of approval to ensure the business contains “any detectable impacts beyond the physical limits of the building.”

Among the marijuana businesses that are banned in the draft regulations are large-scale cannabis cultivators, cannabis delivery service, and cannabis product manufacturing.