NORTHAMPTON - Today, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra notified Euphorium, LLC, that she will not sign a Host Community Agreement allowing its proposed cannabis establishment to locate at 143 N. Main Street in Florence while offering to assist the owners with identifying alternate locations.
“We have a thriving cannabis industry in Northampton because we have been able to locate establishments in appropriate locations with minimal impact, “said Mayor Sciarra, “A cannabis business on the corner of the main intersection in the heart of Florence Center clearly doesn’t pass that test.“
Mayor Sciarra made this decision after a robust community discussion including two public forums organized by Euphorium, and noted that the “overwhelming amount of feedback” she received informed her view that a cannabis business at the proposed location is “not best for Florence’s future economic viability.”
Florence center is undergoing rapid change with two blocks recently being sold and the loss of some long-standing businesses. “I have heard from hundreds of people about what they don’t want at the main intersection in Florence, and also what kinds of businesses they think would be great to have in Florence,” said Mayor Sciarra, adding: “I encourage all who have been so vocal and engaged on this issue to use that remarkable energy to encourage or create the economic development they wish to see and then to be sure to support it.”
Under state laws, cannabis entities must enter into Host Community Agreements with municipalities before submitting their applications to the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) for license approval. Northampton’s City Charter grants such administrative authority to the Mayor.
In her letter to Euphorium, LLC, Mayor Sciarra cited state guidelines issued by the CCC that encourage “municipalities to carefully consider the impact of the particular marijuana establishment proposed for a community” when exploring Host Community Agreements. Furthermore, a state Supreme Court ruling last year upheld the right of municipalities to refuse to sign Host Community Agreements so long as there is “a rational basis for the decision” that is not “arbitrary or capricious.”
Separately, Mayor Sciarra announced her opposition to an idea being explored by the City Council: imposing a cap on the number of cannabis retail establishments within city limits.
“While I respect the process underway with the City Council to consider a cap, Northampton has been and should continue to be a city supportive of a well-regulated and equitable cannabis industry that expands our tax base,” she said. “Artificially constraining the cannabis market is unnecessary at a time when neighboring states–Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont–are entering the retail cannabis market, and applications for new Northampton licenses have already waned in the past two years. Furthermore, an arbitrary ceiling could inflate a secondary market for licenses that helps large corporations box out smaller businesses, Social Equity Program participants, and Certified Economic Empowerment Priority entrepreneurs.”
For more information, contact the Mayor’s Office at 413-587-1249 or mayor@northamptonma.gov.
