BELCHERTOWN — Belchertown will be getting a second marijuana establishment in town after the Planning Board approved Kalyx LLC’s special permit at its Jan. 23 meeting.
Steve Reilly, an attorney from Springfield and one of the owners of Kalyx LLC, was the applicant present to discuss the site plan.
Reilly said that the original proposal was presented and approved in summer 2019 but since then the company has had some difficulties opening for reasons including the coronavirus pandemic and licensing.
He added the company currently has a provisional approval from the state and have commenced a lease as well, but the special permit has expired, leading to the meeting with the Planning Board.
Kalyx will be located at 125 N. Main St. and Reilly added how he likes the spot.
“We think the location is ideal. There are so residents around it. We have a lot of parking in front of the building. We offer as little as 30 parking spaces at different Insa dispensaries and will have well over that at this site,” Reilly said.
He added, “We think it is an ideal location for this site. Things have changed a little bit since we were here in 2019 in terms of what the cannabis market is. I know at that time there were some concerns about the volume we would see at this site,”
Reilly added he expects 200-300 customers on a “high-end” day.
“We think it’s a good volume site but it’s not going to be a site that is similar to the Insa site in Springfield where we would do up to thousands in a day.”
Reilly acknowledged that Clear Sky Cannabis opened its newest store in Belchertown in October 2022.
They are located at 20 George Hannum St. and is an adult-use cannabis store with over 350 items on their menu.
He said, “That was known to us in 2019 when we applied but we are confident that we are going to run a good compliant business hear, generate tax revenue and not create an issue in the town.”
One thing that residents are concerned about when a cannabis business comes to town is the smell that it might bring with it.
Reilly explained, “All of the products we have are prepackaged which addresses 99% of the issues of dispensaries for odor control. Beyond the prepacking of products, we don’t have negative pressure systems or the traditional things you would see. We have operated a number of facilities and never had an issue.”
Most of the products sold at the site will be Insa products, according to Reilly, and they also come in food grade can that are sealed with nitrogen inside, so the odor doesn’t escape.
“This was a project that was a joint venture between some the original investors of Insa and the plan was to be able to have a relationship with Insa to be able to supply the store and then use that experience and expertise to be able to operate.”
A few residents at the meeting complained about adding another marijuana site to town as well as the smell.
Planning Board member Justin Rosienski said that the law states the town can have as many dispensaries as there are package stores.
Planning Board Chair Dan Beaudette added, “If this company wants to utilize that building and it’s of legal use and up to building permits and meets the zoning code, why would we say no? I hear complaints we got too many banks, too many pizza shops. These are private companies willing to invest their money in Belchertown. I am encouraged we have one less empty store.”
The Planning Board unanimously approved the special permit application for a retail medical marijuana facility for Kalyx.