SAUGUS — Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano set a deadline of Friday, May 19 for Town Manager Scott Crabtree to submit recommendations to the board on the seven marijuana dispensaries that completed the request for information issued by his office in January.
Cogliano, who was instrumental in lobbying Town Meeting to amend the town’s zoning bylaws to allow recreational marijuana dispensaries last year, set the deadline during the board’s meeting Tuesday evening.
Crabtree is technically under no obligation to meet the deadline, which itself is already past a self-imposed deadline of April 24, 60 days after the deadline to respond to the RFI. But, should he not submit recommendations to the board by that date, Cogliano said he would move forward on scheduling hearings.
“I don’t have to wait for him,” Cogliano said.
As part of the RFI process, applicants were required to meet with Crabtree and a “coordinated Marijuana Establishment Review Committee.” That committee was made up of Crabtree, Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli, Fire Chief Michael Newbury, Director of Public Health John Fralick, Procurement Director Michele Wendell, a member of the Planning Board, and the town’s building commissioner.
Cogliano confirmed Tuesday that Crabtree has now met with all seven applicants. The Board of Selectmen ultimately has final say on the dispensaries as the issuing authority for S2 permits in town, and Cogliano said that unless Crabtree deemed an applicant did not meet the requirements set out in the bylaws, he intended to hear all seven applicants out.
Cogliano said he would like Crabtree to rank the applicants, but ensure the board gets the final decision on which applications to grant, with only three licenses available.
Marijuana dispensary applicants would be brought forward for a special meeting and would not appear during a regular meeting of the board, Cogliano said. He said he would like to have applicants before the board by the middle or end of June, and each group would be given time to make their case.
Cogliano has said board members would take direction from the Police Department and heavily scrutinize the security plans of each applicant.
The board would like to see “prior experience in the business” and for the location to be a “good fit for the neighborhood,” he said.
The RFI process has been shrouded in mystery, with Crabtree not commenting publicly on it since the document was issued in January. Despite a suggestion in the document that the review committee would hold community outreach meetings to give residents a chance to hear and interrogate the proposals, none appear to have been held.
