Becket — It was clear from the start that Ipswich Pharmaceutical Associates, Inc. didn’t stand a chance, even in a town where 76 percent of its residents voted to approve statewide medical marijuana, the second highest vote in Berkshire County. (Mt. Washington came in first, at 84 percent.)
At a packed, and at moments, raucous, public hearing Wednesday evening (Aug. 24) about the company’s request to the Selectboard for a letter of nonopposition to build and operate a medical marijuana cultivation facility off Yokum Pond Road here, residents spoke overwhelmingly against it. Only one spoke out in favor.
The Becket Board of Selectmen, from left, Nicole Ledoux, Jeanne Pryor and William Elovirta. Photo: Heather Bellow
The Selectboard voted down a letter of nonopposition, 2-1. Chair William Elovirta and Nicole Ledoux were against it; Jeanne Pryor supported it.
Roughly 50 residents out of the town’s population of 1,700 came to say that they didn’t want anything smacking of industry in their — in some cases, literal — backyards.
Ipswich President Joseph McCarthy said he had an option to buy 26 acres of residential and agriculturally zoned land here for $120,000, on which the company, which in Ipswich processes marijuana into various forms for medical use, would cultivate marijuana pods in a secured building and greenhouses.
There would be no pesticides, because the state won’t allow them, McCarthy said. He said noise would be limited to paddle fans, a “noise impact no different from growing tomatoes.” In this case, he said, “you won’t be able to see anything.” McCarthy said lighting would be low foot-level lighting for the nighttime security guard, and that’s it. The place would be heavy on security cameras, and the plants would be driven from the Becket facility to Ipswich in state-approved security vans.
The company even has its own security director, Kevin McTigue, a retired former lieutenant with the New Jersey State Police, who met McCarthy in the Marine Corps in the 1960s. McTigue was already working with Becket Police Chief Kristopher McDonough about the possibility of off-duty Becket and Massachusetts State Police officers working security details. McTigue said McDonough would “have the final say” about all security. And McDonough said McTigue had made a “concrete presentation” to him.
McCarthy said he was flexible about how things might be situated, and would acquiesce to almost anything the town wants. “I’m here to work with you folks,” he said, adding that he picked Becket because “it’s clean and green.”
Ipswich attorney Adam Fine. Photo: Heather Bellow
Ipswich attorney Adam Fine, after noting that the endeavor is subject to Department of Public Health (DPH) and Becket regulations, said the company would sign an agreement with the town to pay full property taxes and give the town 2.5 percent of gross annual retail sales estimated at $4 million to $6 million. Fine also noted that around 10 to 15 new jobs would be created for local hires only.
“We’re not looking to rush this process,” Fine said. “We want to be here only if Becket wants us here.”
Fine also said that the state’s 7 open retail dispensaries and 7 cultivation facilities haven’t caused any upticks in crime.
But none of this mattered. People said they didn’t want anything spoiling their beautiful Becket.
Resident Douglas Grand wondered about the “impact on nature by being the first business along those streets.”
Property abutter Donna Marunda was not happy. “I didn’t purchase this property 25 years ago to have this in my backyard…I want to enjoy the peace and quiet and not the hum of fans.”
Becket resident Bob Hersh, center, says the Yokum Pond Road location in Becket is too pristine for a medical marijuana cultivation facility, and that he moved here to ‘get away from industry.’ Photo: Heather Bellow
“I knew in my heart and in my bones that this is the wrong location for this,” said Vivian Wishingrad, who said she wanted the town to rethink its zoning. “I’ve never known this town to be bought.”
Yokum Pond Road, said resident Bob Hersh, “is pristine, it is quiet, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I bought here to get away from industry.”
Hersh wasn’t the first to worry about what this facility might do to property values, particularly for the second homeowners who pay a good many taxes here.
Fine later pointed to Colorado, a state that saw property values “skyrocket” after both medicinal and recreational marijuana was legalized. Indeed, housing prices in Denver shot up to such a degree after the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, that the city now has a housing crisis which is pushing out all but the wealthy.
One resident asked if the facility would look like a prison. “I would not want to work in a place that looked like a prison,” McCarthy said. “You won’t see this from the road.”
People kept asking McCarthy why he had to do this in Becket rather than Ipswich or some other Berkshires town. And McCarthy kept saying his reason was that he wanted to do something nice for the town. But no one was buying it, and they weren’t quiet about it either.
Fine stepped in to lay it on the line: “The cost of land is lower here than it would be in an urban area.”
Others worried that if things went well for the company, they might want to expand across the entire 26 acres. McCarthy said he’d sign a contract to limit expansion to 4 acres. Jenna O’Brien said she worried about the value of her “investment” should recreational marijuana be legalized, and the operation expanded. Fine said state law would not allow it.
Mike Lavery was the only Becket resident to speak in favor of Ipswich’s plans. Photo: Heather Bellow
“We are talking about medical marijuana here, medicine that helps a lot of people,” Fine said. “We in no way can parlay this into recreational marijuana,” since medical marijuana is so strictly regulated.
Resident Gabriel Greenspan was suspicious. “Why buy the whole 26 acres to begin with if you’re willing to sign a document to only use four?”
Johanna Cornock was concerned about THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the mind-altering properties of marijuana, leaching into the water table. Fine explained that everything discharged into the septic system must be tested first.
The questions kept coming and coming, despite the appearance of most minds being already made up.
At a certain point McCarthy sat down and just looked straight ahead as people railed against his plan.
But then a supporter stood. Mike Lavery spoke of economic and employment benefits to the town from something that “helps millions of people,” including children with seizures. “It’s not interfering with the natural aspects that we’re proud to call Becket.”
Becket Planning Board Chairman Bob Ronzio said Becket is not safe from any kind industry. Photo: Heather Bellow
Then Becket Planning Board Chair Bob Ronzio stood to explain, “not for or against,” that anyone, if they meet zoning requirements and get their permits, can build on the town’s land.
“The idea that Becket is safe from any industry is not part of the town’s bylaws,” he said. “If Becket would like to change those rules, then let’s hear from you, it can be done.” He reminded everyone that 708 residents out of 1,700 voted in favor of medical marijuana.
Ronzio also raised an important point, warning the town that they just can’t keep rejecting dispensaries or cultivation facilities. He said former Attorney General Martha Coakley said towns can’t “prohibit this kind of activity…you could run afoul of the AG’s office.”
Fine said this sort of “legal challenge” hasn’t been seen yet, and that his firm does not condone a more “aggressive” approach to fighting towns on the matter. He said, however, “communities can’t have effective outright bans; there must be a process.”
Ronzio asked if everyone was “rejecting this particular location or rejected the concept altogether for Becket.”
McCarthy addresses the Board of Selectmen. Photo: Heather Bellow
Board Chair Elovirta said it was “just this location.”
Board member Pryor, who had earlier pointed out that only abutters to this property got notice of this hearing, said that another proposed location would require another hearing for those abutters.
McCarthy said he had looked at other properties in Becket, and appeared to be open to finding another one. “Where do you want it located?” he asked the crowd.
Before the vote that doomed Ipswich from setting up shop on Yokum Pond Road, Elovirta noted about 10 letters of opposition from residents, and further reminded everyone that it was illegal to stuff US mailboxes with flyers, as opponents to the facility had done. He also said he was surprised at everyone’s good behavior at the hearing. “I didn’t know if we were going to have to throw anyone out,” he said.
Yet it was an intimidating enough scene for one resident who supported Ipswich, but would not speak up at the meeting. The resident spoke to the Edge in the town hall parking lot, not wanting to be identified.
“There is no community spirit about doing something for the town,” the resident said. “They had made up their minds, they organized themselves. It was selfish that they couldn’t even listen or consider.”