Haverhill is one step closer to getting the city’s first retail marijuana shop, with councilors Tuesday night voting to grant Plaistow Road dispensary Full Harvest Moonz a special permit hearing on May 21.
Headed by Weymouth-based CEO Janet Kupris, the dispensary at 95 Plaistow Road inked a host community agreement with Mayor James J. Fiorentini in December and finalized all traffic study, site plan and security paperwork with the city earlier this month.
Attorney Michael Migliori petitioned the Council on behalf of Kupris at Tuesday’s Council meeting, making Full Harvest Moonz the first of Haverhill’s three proposed retail dispensaries to progress to the special permit phase of the licensing process.
During the May 21 session with councilors, the Full Harvest Moonz team’s security plan, hours of operation and other logistics will be ironed out, with the nine-member panel voting to approve or deny Kupris permission to do business in the city.
Councilor Michael S. McGonagle is expected to sit out special permit proceedings, as he and his sister, Kathy McGonagle Darby, recently purchased the former Seafood Etc. building at 330 Amesbury Road with the intention of leasing it to Haverhill dispensary entrepreneurs Mellow Fellows. That group—E. Philip Brown, Charles Emery and Timothy Riley—has yet to sign a host community agreement with the city.
As WHAV previously reported, Caroline Pineau is pursuing Stem downtown, while Rob DiFazio plans to open CNA Stores on River Street. Christopher Edwards, the CEO of Salem-based Alternative Therapies Group, has expressed interest in a possible location at 399 Amesbury Road he plans to call Haverwell Market.
Following the special permit process, those with City Council permission to operate a dispensary in Haverhill must obtain a license from the state Cannabis Control Commission before opening for business. Fiorentini expects the city’s first dispensary to open this summer.