CHICOPEE – The owner of a vape shop was granted a special permit to open a retail cannabis shop after three years of working through the regulation process.
The City Council approved a special permit last week that will allow Jim Buddy’s Rec Shop to open at 1269 Memorial Drive. If the shop receives final approvals from the state, it will be the third recreational marijuana shop to open in the city.
“We are happy we are still here and we are excited to get the construction going,” said James Robinson, the business owner.
Robinson opened Jim Buddy’s Vape Shop in 2015 on Memorial Drive with the goal of eventually expanding to sell cannabis once it was legalized. Shortly after voters cast ballots to legalize marijuana in 2018, the store next to his shop became vacant and Robinson rented it with the hopes of achieving his goal.
“We have been working on this project for years,” he said. “COVID did not help us at all. It took us nine months just to find a firm that would do a traffic study.”
Robinson and his wife, Lisa Robinson, submitted an application to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission in January 2019 and signed a host agreement with then-Mayor Richard J. Kos a month later.
The approval came about six months after the City Council examined his initial permit application and aired concerns about ordinance violations on the property and wanted a traffic study done. On officials’ advice, Robinson withdrew his application temporarily until the landlord made repairs and a traffic study could be completed.
The state license was on hold until Robinson received local approvals. Now the state Cannabis Control Commission is expected to approve his provisional license in April or May so he can begin final construction on the shop renovations.
About 60% of the renovations are completed but the project has to go through an architectural review after the provisional license is approved, so Robinson said he did not want to get too far into construction to be told he would have to change something.
Robinson said he hopes to open sometime between June and September, depending on how soon construction and required inspections can be completed.
The special permit calls for Robinson to rent 25 parking spaces at the nearby Masse’s Restaurant. It also requires him to hire off-duty police for traffic and crowd control if the police chief determines it is necessary, Councilor James K. Tillotson said.
Robinson described his proposed business as a small boutique shop. Part of his plan is to work with customers to educate them about potency levels and how different types of cannabis products affect the body.
He plans to sell all the standard products, edibles, topical creams, and cannabis flower, which is about 60% of all sales in recreational shops. The shop will not grow the cannabis so he will purchase it from other businesses.
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