NORWICH — The state’s fledgling cannabis industry is taking interest in Norwich.
In September, Norwich approved zoning for two different adult use cannabis retailers along the busy parts West Main Street. The one at 425 West Main St. is owned by BudR Holding 3 LLC, which is a part of New York City-based Acreage Holdings, and 606 West Main St. is listed as CT Pharma Norwich LLC, which is a part of Chicago-based Verano Holdings LLC. Both are companies with a national reach.
The 425 West Main St. permit was issued Sept. 23, and the 606 West Main St. permit was issued Sept. 26. Both permits are valid for five years.  The permit will be voided if they aren’t able to maintain state licensing once they have it, Zoning Enforcement Officer Richard Shuck, said.
Shuck is hearing more interest in retail cannabis and expects to see a few more businesses in Norwich in the near term. It’s a bigger leap to get started than most types of business, given the state’s rules and funding needed.
“There’s been a lot of interest. Some of it is from people who are viable and obtaining licenses,” he said.  “Others are people who didn’t understand the complexity of obtaining that license from the state.”
In early August, a marijuana cultivator interested in the former Mr. Big’s department store in Norwich’s Greeneville, CT Plant Based Compassionate Care LLC, announced its candidacy as a social equity candidate. That makes three cannabis businesses well on their way to opening in Norwich, though final approval requires months and several steps.
The West Main Street permits state that various applicable inspections and utility changeovers will be needed before awarding the Certificate of Zoning Compliance. The stores will also need separate permitting for signs.
When will cannabis shops open in Norwich?
Acreage Holdings has long had an interest in a Norwich location, given the population and proximity to the casinos. The sizable parking is a perk as well. Once all the needed approvals are secured, the company wants to get started with construction and be ready by the second quarter of next year, Â said Carl Tirella, Connecticut general manager for Acreage Holdings.
The opened store will be a “normal, high-end retail experience,” mainly with flower and vape juice, Tirella said. As this retail location is a social equity venture, providing jobs and giving back will be an important aspect too, she added.
Acreage is also waiting for retail zoning approvals in West Hartford and Danbury.
As for Verano, the company will pursue multiple locations statewide, including Norwich, to build off of its medical retail locations in Meriden and Waterbury, and the cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill. The company will look for “social equity partnerships and opportunities for wider distribution of its products,” Communications Director Steve Mazeika wrote in an email.
Currently, these businesses are going through the provisional license period with the state. Final approval won’t come until they can meet state requirements, including security requirements after a 14-month period, said Kaitleyn Krasselt, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
Shuck is also a member of Stafford’s Planning and Zoning Commission. He said conversations about the cannabis industry have come up there, and the commission passed an ordinance to allow cannabis businesses in two specific zones in that town. However, population centers like Norwich will be more attractive than smaller towns for such businesses, and people that far north already buy recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, Shuck said.
“To my knowledge, we haven’t got any applications or interest in Stafford,” he said.
Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said he would have voted against cannabis legalization if he were still serving at the state level. However, it’s good for the city to adapt and get tax revenue from the recreational cannabis industry, so long as it’s done responsibly, he said.
“It’s not near schools, it’s not near libraries, all those kinds of things,” Nystrom said. “If you don’t achieve those goals, enforcement is an issue there.”
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