LYNN — The owners of a Linden Street warehouse building were granted unanimous approval from the City Council to grow marijuana at their site on Tuesday night, but it was conditional and came with a stipulation that they must submit a plan to ensure no odor escapes from the facility.
Jarrod R. Falite and Raymond S. Falite, founding partners of Bostica, LLC, were granted a special permit to open a marijuana cultivation and manufacturing business at 71 Linden St., which may be known to residents as the former Harvard Folding Box Company building.
Bostica LLC is the first marijuana cultivation facility to be approved in Lynn. The facility is expected to occupy 40,000 square feet of the 118,000 square-foot warehouse building, which contains approximately 20 other businesses.
James Smith, the company’s attorney, said there will be no retail component at the growing and processing facility. No one will be allowed inside except for employees. In petitioning for approval, Smith told the council the cultivation site would bring in tax revenue to the city and create high-paying jobs.
Throughout the process, potential odor from the facility has been a concern for councilors. Ward 7 Councilor Jay Walsh, who represents the area where the facility would be, said odor would definitely impact him and his family, as they live near the building.
But Walsh said adding a stipulation for odor control as part of the approval helps with his concerns.
According to the condition, before the company is issued an occupancy permit by the city’s Inspectional Services Department, Bostica must submit an odor mitigation plan to ISD.
The Falites agreed to pay for an independent peer review of the odor mitigation plan. The plan has to be deemed satisfactory by the consultant, in terms of preventing the release of odor from the facility. If odor were to occur, the company would be required to pay for an independent consultant to recommend changes to the mitigation plan.
Smith has said the company will use equipment to remediate the smell, and that their largest investment would be for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to ensure the air is pure.
“We want to be good neighbors,” Smith said. “We don’t want any odor at all.”
