Robert Celt
New Member
If there's one lesson Vincent Lambiase has learned in more than 30 years as a small business owner, it's to avoid locating two businesses of the same kind too close together.
"Would you open a pizza parlor near another pizza parlor or a flower shop near another flower shop?" said Lambiase, owner of Beachwood Florist in Milford.
By that same logic, he said, opening two medical marijuana facilities within a few miles of one another sounds like bad business. But that's exactly what's happening in Milford. Earlier this month, the state Department of Consumer Protection awarded licenses to open three more pot dispensaries in the state – and two of them are in Milford. The third is in Waterbury.
The Milford sites aren't just in the same town, but less than two miles apart. One will be in an office building at 318 New Haven Ave., and the other is at 255 W. River St., in a building formerly occupied by the Eyesurgic Center. The facilities, expected to open in early summer, will join the six existing dispensaries in the state.
State officials said the licenses were given purely on the strength of the applications. It's a coincidence, they say, that the approvals have turned Milford into the Colorado of the Northeast, while large swaths of the state remain without dispensaries. There is only one dispensary in all of densely populated Fairfield County, for example. There are none in Litchfield County.
So far, sentiment in the city is mixed on the incoming businesses, which may suggest a greater acceptance since the industry was first approved in Connecticut.
In 2013, when the state started considering applications for medical marijuana production facilities and dispensaries, dozens of municipalities rushed to adopt moratoriums on such businesses. Milford was among them. While some communities still have laws in place prohibiting cannabis businesses, others have modified the restrictions and many have abandoned the moratoriums completely.
In Milford, the Planning and Zoning Board in 2014 established certain commercial zones, a distance from schools, that allow medical pot businesses.
Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake is willing to welcome the businesses, but expressed some reservations.
"I understand the benefits that access to medical marijuana provides patients suffering from diseases like cancer, glaucoma, Parkinson's and MS," he said in a text message. "Still, this treatment program is relatively new to Connecticut and must be carefully regulated to avoid abuses."
Both of the Milford dispensary sites are in busy areas. The West River dispensary sits between the Boston Post Road and a residential neighborhood. The New Haven Avenue site is near several businesses, including Jimmy's Apizza and Beachwood Florist.
Lambiase for one, said he doesn't mind having a pot dispensary as a neighbor as long as everything is kept legal and businesslike.
"It's another regulated business," he said. "I don't think it brings an undesirable faction into the area. I don't really think legalized marijuana is a great idea, but I don't believe in putting my opinions on everyone else."
The best applications
The three approved sites were picked from a pool of 19 applications. Department of Consumer Protection spokeswoman Lora Rae Anderson said nearly half of the applications were for sites in Milford, which is "a pretty central location" given that the bulk of the 8,228 medical marijuana patients registered in Connecticut live in New Haven or Fairfield counties.
There are 1,941 patients in Fairfield County, and the 2,141 patients in New Haven County. Anderson said a "fair number" of patients live in Milford and its surrounding communities, but she wouldn't give exact figures for confidentiality reasons.
The chosen Milford applicants both had strong business plans, according to Anderson, and, among other things, did a good job of showing they could run a safe, secure facility.
"There was a very, very rigorous process they had to go through," she said. "The decision boiled down to the quality of the applications and the scores they were given during the review process."
The two approved Milford applications came from Rajesh A. Patel of Rocky Hill, who won the license for the New Haven Avenue property, and Angelo DeFazio, who owns an Arrow pharmacy in Hartford and won the license for the West River Street dispensary.
DeFazio received one of the state's first medical marijuana sales licenses and in 2014 opened a dispensary in Hartford, Arrow Alternative Care. He is on the state pharmacy commission, which is part of the Department of Consumer Protection. But Anderson said the commission has no role in approving licenses for the pot dispensaries. The process is overseen by the department's drug control division and the legal division.
Neither Patel nor DeFazio returned calls seeking comment.
The three new approvals would bring the number of dispensaries in New Haven County to four.
The single Fairfield County dispensary – the Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut/D&B Wellness, LLC, is in Bethel. Of the 19 applications submitted in this latest round, three were submitted by Organic Care LLC in Greenwich. Another Fairfield County-based business, PalliaTech, LLC in Monroe, also submitted an application.
Anderson said the state would like to add more Fairfield County dispensaries, and, with the state adding about 100 registered patients a week, the application process may be re-opened again in the near future.
Maybe in my backyard?
As for the Milford community, Lambiase and others seemed willing to accept the dispensaries as just another pair of town businesses, though some voiced reservations. Those included a neighbor of the West River Street property, who didn't want her name used. The woman, who has a young child, said, on the one hand, it's good that there's a place where those who need relief from a painful or chronic condition can get help. But she's not sure she wants it in her neighborhood.
"I don't think there's a reason to be concerned," she said, but added that she wants more information on the dispensary, and how it would operate. "I'm glad there are places people can go for help. We just want to make sure that everyone stays safe."
Blake said the city is also concerned about safety, which is why Milford's planning and zoning board adopted safeguards last year, restricting any possible incoming dispensaries to certain commercial zones and away from schools.
The business community is a bit less conflicted in its support. Milford Chamber of Commerce President Kathleen Alagno said she's received no complaints or comments about the dispensaries from members.
"These are bonified businesses, approved by the state that would be no different than any other pharmacy," she said.
Lambiase regards his new neighbors as businesses as well, but he is still baffled by the idea of two similar businesses opening up so close to one another. When he first opened Beachwood, there were multiple other florists in town, but his research showed that the bulk of them were on the verge of closing, making room for a new player. But medical marijuana is a fairly new field in the state and a niche business, he said. It seems highly unlikely that the two spots wouldn't steal business from one another.
"That's kind of silly," he said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CT: Milford Embraces Medical Marijuana
Author: Amanda Cuda
Contact: ctPost
Photo Credit: H John Voorhees III
Website: ctPost
"Would you open a pizza parlor near another pizza parlor or a flower shop near another flower shop?" said Lambiase, owner of Beachwood Florist in Milford.
By that same logic, he said, opening two medical marijuana facilities within a few miles of one another sounds like bad business. But that's exactly what's happening in Milford. Earlier this month, the state Department of Consumer Protection awarded licenses to open three more pot dispensaries in the state – and two of them are in Milford. The third is in Waterbury.
The Milford sites aren't just in the same town, but less than two miles apart. One will be in an office building at 318 New Haven Ave., and the other is at 255 W. River St., in a building formerly occupied by the Eyesurgic Center. The facilities, expected to open in early summer, will join the six existing dispensaries in the state.
State officials said the licenses were given purely on the strength of the applications. It's a coincidence, they say, that the approvals have turned Milford into the Colorado of the Northeast, while large swaths of the state remain without dispensaries. There is only one dispensary in all of densely populated Fairfield County, for example. There are none in Litchfield County.
So far, sentiment in the city is mixed on the incoming businesses, which may suggest a greater acceptance since the industry was first approved in Connecticut.
In 2013, when the state started considering applications for medical marijuana production facilities and dispensaries, dozens of municipalities rushed to adopt moratoriums on such businesses. Milford was among them. While some communities still have laws in place prohibiting cannabis businesses, others have modified the restrictions and many have abandoned the moratoriums completely.
In Milford, the Planning and Zoning Board in 2014 established certain commercial zones, a distance from schools, that allow medical pot businesses.
Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake is willing to welcome the businesses, but expressed some reservations.
"I understand the benefits that access to medical marijuana provides patients suffering from diseases like cancer, glaucoma, Parkinson's and MS," he said in a text message. "Still, this treatment program is relatively new to Connecticut and must be carefully regulated to avoid abuses."
Both of the Milford dispensary sites are in busy areas. The West River dispensary sits between the Boston Post Road and a residential neighborhood. The New Haven Avenue site is near several businesses, including Jimmy's Apizza and Beachwood Florist.
Lambiase for one, said he doesn't mind having a pot dispensary as a neighbor as long as everything is kept legal and businesslike.
"It's another regulated business," he said. "I don't think it brings an undesirable faction into the area. I don't really think legalized marijuana is a great idea, but I don't believe in putting my opinions on everyone else."
The best applications
The three approved sites were picked from a pool of 19 applications. Department of Consumer Protection spokeswoman Lora Rae Anderson said nearly half of the applications were for sites in Milford, which is "a pretty central location" given that the bulk of the 8,228 medical marijuana patients registered in Connecticut live in New Haven or Fairfield counties.
There are 1,941 patients in Fairfield County, and the 2,141 patients in New Haven County. Anderson said a "fair number" of patients live in Milford and its surrounding communities, but she wouldn't give exact figures for confidentiality reasons.
The chosen Milford applicants both had strong business plans, according to Anderson, and, among other things, did a good job of showing they could run a safe, secure facility.
"There was a very, very rigorous process they had to go through," she said. "The decision boiled down to the quality of the applications and the scores they were given during the review process."
The two approved Milford applications came from Rajesh A. Patel of Rocky Hill, who won the license for the New Haven Avenue property, and Angelo DeFazio, who owns an Arrow pharmacy in Hartford and won the license for the West River Street dispensary.
DeFazio received one of the state's first medical marijuana sales licenses and in 2014 opened a dispensary in Hartford, Arrow Alternative Care. He is on the state pharmacy commission, which is part of the Department of Consumer Protection. But Anderson said the commission has no role in approving licenses for the pot dispensaries. The process is overseen by the department's drug control division and the legal division.
Neither Patel nor DeFazio returned calls seeking comment.
The three new approvals would bring the number of dispensaries in New Haven County to four.
The single Fairfield County dispensary – the Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut/D&B Wellness, LLC, is in Bethel. Of the 19 applications submitted in this latest round, three were submitted by Organic Care LLC in Greenwich. Another Fairfield County-based business, PalliaTech, LLC in Monroe, also submitted an application.
Anderson said the state would like to add more Fairfield County dispensaries, and, with the state adding about 100 registered patients a week, the application process may be re-opened again in the near future.
Maybe in my backyard?
As for the Milford community, Lambiase and others seemed willing to accept the dispensaries as just another pair of town businesses, though some voiced reservations. Those included a neighbor of the West River Street property, who didn't want her name used. The woman, who has a young child, said, on the one hand, it's good that there's a place where those who need relief from a painful or chronic condition can get help. But she's not sure she wants it in her neighborhood.
"I don't think there's a reason to be concerned," she said, but added that she wants more information on the dispensary, and how it would operate. "I'm glad there are places people can go for help. We just want to make sure that everyone stays safe."
Blake said the city is also concerned about safety, which is why Milford's planning and zoning board adopted safeguards last year, restricting any possible incoming dispensaries to certain commercial zones and away from schools.
The business community is a bit less conflicted in its support. Milford Chamber of Commerce President Kathleen Alagno said she's received no complaints or comments about the dispensaries from members.
"These are bonified businesses, approved by the state that would be no different than any other pharmacy," she said.
Lambiase regards his new neighbors as businesses as well, but he is still baffled by the idea of two similar businesses opening up so close to one another. When he first opened Beachwood, there were multiple other florists in town, but his research showed that the bulk of them were on the verge of closing, making room for a new player. But medical marijuana is a fairly new field in the state and a niche business, he said. It seems highly unlikely that the two spots wouldn't steal business from one another.
"That's kind of silly," he said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CT: Milford Embraces Medical Marijuana
Author: Amanda Cuda
Contact: ctPost
Photo Credit: H John Voorhees III
Website: ctPost
