Hartford Courant

Shop opening could turn on city or state zoning control

- By Kenneth R. Gosselin

HARTFORD — The future for Hartford’s first recreation­al marijuana shop has turned more uncertain, as the Capital Region Developmen­t Authority asserted it has control over zoning in the Front Street neighborho­od, and not the city.

The city’s planning and zoning commission’s public hearing Tuesday on the proposal for an adult-use shop at 89 Arch St., across from the convention center, was continued to June 28 to sort out who has zoning purview.

CRDA strongly opposes the opening of an adult-use cannabis shop at 89 Arch St., across from the convention center, arguing it is not consistent with the family-focused entertainm­ent throughout Front Street and the broader Adriaen’s Landing district that it oversees.

The plans for the cannabis shop have been endorsed by the city’s department of developmen­t services. The plans meet zoning requiremen­ts, would boost tourism and foot traffic, and encourage entreprene­urial, innovative businesses, the department says.

If the partners in the shop do win zoning approval, they still must secure a license from the state.

In a letter to the commission, Hartford City Council President Maly D. Rosado also urged caution, asking the commission to withhold any vote “until city leaders can develop a more robust plan on the sale of legal cannabis within Hartford.”

At Tuesday’s virtual hearing, the city’s director of planning, Aimee Chambers acknowledg­ed CRDA’S

control over its properties in the area. But Chambers contended that it did not pertain to 89 Arch — the former Blind Pig Pizza Co. — or the neighborin­g Arch Street Tavern.

“This particular property and the property next door are privately-owned properties, so I think it’s an important distinctio­n to make as we talk about the district,” Chambers said.

Chambers said a search of land records also showed no restrictio­ns on the property.

But Anthony Lazzaro, CRDA’S general counsel, pushed back on that argument during the hearing. Lazzaro noted for instance that the state’s alcohol permit for the Arch Street Tavern was signed on the planning and zoning line by CRDA.

“Much like when the Blind Pig wanted to put the awning on the front, it didn’t go to the city of Hartford for zoning approval, they went to CRDA, and we approved the awning going on the front,” Lazzaro said. “And when they wanted economic assistance, we provided that patio to them, again, because it was certainly within the Adriaen’s Landing site.”

“We believe we have the jurisdicti­on on the zoning here,” Lazzaro said.

More than two decades ago, Adriaen’s Landing was created by the state lawmakers. That led to the developmen­t of the convention center, the Connecticu­t Science Center and Front Street, which includes restaurant­s, entertainm­ent venues, apartments and a Uconn regional campus.

CRDA and its predecesso­r, both quasi-public agencies, were given control to shape the developmen­t. CRDA says long-standing agreements prohibit such uses as check-cashing, pawn shops, firearms sellers, the sale of pornograph­ic items, head shops — and cannabis sales.

At Tuesday’s hearing, two partners in the venture — Derrick C. Gibbs Jr. and Carl Terilla Jr. — said the shop would be high-end, meeting all the requiremen­ts for a state license.

This would include security inside and outside the store, the checking of IDS to make sure patrons were 21 or older and that no items would be visible from the street. There would be no advertisin­g in windows or neon, flashing cannabis leaf signs.

Gibbs said he expected the typical customer would spend between $100 and $150 a visit. He said sales would mostly be pre-orders and by appointmen­t. All products would be pre-packaged with no odors and there would be no consumptio­n on the premises, which is prohibited by state regulation­s.

“There were questions about whether this was going to be a quote-unquote a hole in the wall shop,” Gibbs said. “I can assure that is not going to be the case.”

Gibbs said his Middletown-based company, Change Inc., which provides homecare and behavioral health services, has gross annual sales of $10-15 million. The company is not part of the partnershi­p for the cannabis shop.

“I don’t run establishm­ents that are holes in the walls,” Gibbs said. “In fact, we have investors that have committed $1.2 million into this project.”

The hearing was continued before much of the public got a chance to weigh in, but letters, mostly in opposition, were submitted by Chambers.

One Front Street restaurant, El Pollo Guapo, expressed support for the cannabis shop.

“As an emerging industry in Connecticu­t, initial participan­ts in the cannabis industry have the unpreceden­ted opportunit­y to set the standard for corporate responsibi­lity and customer care and safe and compliant operations,” Roy Reidl, the restaurant’s co-owner, wrote.

Reidl wrote he was confident that the operators — with experience in cultivatio­n and retail dispensary in the state’s medical marijuana business — would be a strong addition to Front Street.

 ?? DOUGLAS HOOK/HARTFORD COURANT ?? A dispute has surfaced over whether the city of Hartford or the Capital Region Developmen­t Authority has control over zoning on a building on Arch Street proposed for an adult-use cannabis shop.
DOUGLAS HOOK/HARTFORD COURANT A dispute has surfaced over whether the city of Hartford or the Capital Region Developmen­t Authority has control over zoning on a building on Arch Street proposed for an adult-use cannabis shop.
 ?? ??
 ?? DOUGLAS HOOK PHOTOS/HARTFORD COURANT ?? A proposed recreation­al marijuana shop is proposed at 89 Arch St., across from the Connecticu­t Convention Center. Below, Hartford’s Front Street neighborho­od includes an entertainm­ent district, apartments and the Hartford regional campus of Uconn. Front Street is part of the larger Adriaen’s Landing area that includes the Connecticu­t Convention Center and the Connecticu­t Science Center.
DOUGLAS HOOK PHOTOS/HARTFORD COURANT A proposed recreation­al marijuana shop is proposed at 89 Arch St., across from the Connecticu­t Convention Center. Below, Hartford’s Front Street neighborho­od includes an entertainm­ent district, apartments and the Hartford regional campus of Uconn. Front Street is part of the larger Adriaen’s Landing area that includes the Connecticu­t Convention Center and the Connecticu­t Science Center.

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