Taunton cannabis cultivation plan shot down amid odor concerns

TAUNTON — Boston-based Greater Goods' request for a special permit to open a marijuana cultivation manufacturing site in Myles Standish Industrial Park fell one vote short of being approved by the Taunton City Council on May 24.

The Council voted 5-3 in favor of allowing cannabis planting in a 5,000-square-foot area of the 11,498-square-foot site, which previously housed the National Weather Service at 445 Myles Standish Boulevard.

But, the special permit request needed a two-thirds majority for passage, which means at least six yes votes, so it came up one vote short, according to Mayor Shaunna O'Connell's Deputy Chief of Staff Ligia Madeira.

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Council President Phil Duarte recused himself, Madeira said. She said "his regular job is with a cannabis company He has not been part of the vote on the hearings on this particular issue."

Greater Goods officials and their legal consultant James Valeriani of the Mensing Group could not be reached for comments about the Council's vote or future plans.

Councilor Kelly Dooner said she could not deny approving a special permit because Greater Goods has "gone above and beyond," addressing concerns about potential cannabis odor emissions from the facility.

"You.… have a legal right to be there," she said while the Council voted.

But Greater Goods' request for a special permit was opposed by Taunton Development Corp., a non-profit firm that manages the industrial park.

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Taunton Development Corp. voiced concerns about the infiltration of odor emissions from the planned cannabis facility into the industrial park during an April 26 public hearing.

"The TDC has been a good steward of the industrial park, and we have kept many other uses from the park," said Victor Santos, vice-president of Taunton Development Corp., during the May 23 public hearing. "We are trying to preserve the park's integrity and be good stewards of those who made investments in the industrial park."

Odor control plans for cannabis facility

Mechanics Cooperative Bank CEO Joseph T. Baptista Jr. said he is concerned about odor control because the financial firm recently bought a building across the street from the cannabis firm site.

"As an abutter, who will determine what is offensive odor," he said. "Is it the (cannabis) operator or neighbors? What will the city do to remedy the (odor) situation?"

Baptista said Mechanics Bank made a sizeable investment to relocate its headquarters onto Myles Standish Boulevard.

"It's one of the top industrial parks in New England," he said.

Councilor Estelle Borges said she has visited other cannabis cultivation sites and could smell odor emissions.

"It's not what I'd like to see in the industrial park," she said.

Valeriani said "odor concerns are the largest and only issue" voiced about the potential cannabis site.

"They seem to go hand in hand with the concerns of the TDC (Taunton Development Corp.)," he said during the hearing. "We offered to do a peer review and further checks on odor. There were no conditions issued on odor control in the special permit, from what I could see. We are willing to live with reasonable conditions for our facility."

Trinity Consultants assistant manager Kristine Davies said Greater Goods "could modify the facility to minimize odor emissions.

"That has been problematic in the cannabis industry in the past," she said. "You can modify exhaust conditions."

Davies said the building that manufactures cannabis products "would have negative (air) pressure because it's not a greenhouse."

"The ventilation strategy should work well if engineered properly," she said.

Greater Goods President Jordan Shaw said odor mitigating devices would be installed in the ceilings.

"They can be easily replaced and installed," he said. "They are controlling the odor and not our electrical or plumbing."

Shaw previously said the facility's goal is not to release air from cannabis rooms that receive carbon dioxide emissions.

"If a device were to malfunction and cause high CO2 levels, we have an exhaust system to release air in that situation for employee safety," he said. "It would be rare that these devices would malfunction. We will be getting state-of-the-art equipment. We have a large CO2 tank that only has to be filled once to every two weeks. We would fill it only if it (CO2) gets to 20%. We have a backup tank as well. It would be rare that we would not have CO2."

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton cannabis: Myles Standish proposal rejected amid odor concerns