SOUTHWICK – Two individuals had an informal discussion with the Planning Board during their meeting on Tuesday night about a proposed marijuana facility.
Christopher Lalli and William Fontaine are proposing to open up a small scale, boutique facility on 74 College Hwy, that will consist of cultivating both medical and recreational marijuana. The two gentlemen informed the Planning Board that they’ll strictly be a wholesaler and will not be doing any retail. All of their customers will be retail stores, processors, and some possible marijuana dispensaries.
The proposed facility will sell to retailers and processors. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Since it is only the cultivation, packaging and processing, there’s an anticipation that there will be very light traffic occurring at the facility. The only traffic they are expecting to have will be trucks coming in to deliver the soil for the cultivation and the roughly eight to 12 employees they expect to have on staff.
“We don’t want to have a huge impact on the town,” said Fontaine.
A major portion of this proposal, if accepted by the town, would allow Lalli and Fontaine to build a 15,000 sq. ft. indoor metal facility. The building would include a full security system with cameras, an aspect that the two individuals have already been in discussions with Southwick Chief of Police Kevin Bishop.
“We want to make sure everything is secure,” said Fontaine.
Cultivating both medical and recreational marijuana, the two aspiring business owners pointed out that they believe a cultivation facility, especially for medical marijuana, can ultimately benefit the customers who purchase it from the retail stores.
“We’re hoping to do something new in this new industry,” said Lalli, who is also a co-owner of Berkshire Brewing Co. in South Deerfield.
The proposed facility on 74 College Hwy is located south of the Southwick Historical Society building and south of Nicholson Hill Road. There is no name for the business at this time as the proposed owners are in the midst of deciding that.
The Planning Board told Lalli and Fontaine that their next step will be to apply for a special permit with the Town of Southwick. The two individuals are in no rush to get this operation going as they would like to break ground with the facility at some point in the summer of 2019.
