The former Hartford Courant distribution warehouse on Wawarme Avenue will be the site of a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing business following unanimous approval of a special permit from the Hartford planning and zoning commission this week.
River Growers CT — one of 16 applicants approved by the Social Equity Council to obtain a cultivator license — will convert the 154,000-square-foot building in phases, starting with only 5,000 square feet of space for manufacturing and about 30,000 square feet of space for cultivation, according to documents filed with the commission.
The company will expand in phases inside the building over the next two years, according to the plans.
No outward changes to the building will be made, according to attorney Evan Seeman of Robinson & Cole, who represents River Growers CT.
The application enjoyed overwhelming support from three neighborhood revitalization zone groups: Maple Avenue Revitalization Group, Coalition to Strengthen the Sheldon/Charter Oak Neighborhood and Southend Neighborhood Revitalization Association.
Part of the reason for the support was the company’s commitment to hire at least 75% of the facility’s employees from Hartford. (That provision was noted by the PZC, but was outside of its purview to make as a condition of approval.)
“We had a lot of questions and concerns, but after everything was answered to our liking, 95% supported the whole idea that this happens in our neighborhood,” Hyacinth Yannie, chair of Maple Avenue NRZ, said. “I think there’s nothing wrong there with doing the growth as long as they are doing the timeline with [planning and zoning]. I don’t see any really any reason we shouldn’t support that. We also asked them to hire 75% of Hartford residents and maybe become [part of the] upper management group. They support that. That was very pleasing to the neighborhood and our committees. … They’re in the perfect location.”
Chris McArdle, president of the CSS/CON NRZ, agreed, adding that his group unanimously supports the new business moving in.
“This is an almost unmitigated positive for Hartford,” McArdle said. “To me, it’s fairly cut and dried at this point.”
The Colt Park Foundation also expressed its support for the application.
“We believe that this business is ideally suited to the location,” Donna Swarr, foundation chair, said. “It will stabilize the property adjacent to Colt Park and the neighborhood. The building is in good repair, has existing roof structure to support solar energy, reducing its energy consumption, has more than adequate parking, and will not significantly increase the traffic in the area. There is a large body of potential laborers from Hartford very close by in the neighborhood off of Wethersfield Avenue.”
While neighborhood groups supported the application, several Hartford residents objected to the plan over concerns of a potential increase in crime and the building’s proximity to several city schools.
Seeman said the facility will be used as a cannabis cultivation manufacturing operation, not a retail operation.
“That’s important,” Seeman said, adding that city regulations require retail operations to be located at least 500 feet from schools. “There is no similar distance separation requirement for the use we are proposing, that is cultivation and manufacturing.”
In addition, the building itself is about 1,000 feet from Bulkeley High School.
“That’s even greater than the distance separation requirement for retail businesses, which we are not proposing,” he said.
Seeman added that the facility will be a much lower-intensity use than when it was a newspaper distribution center.
“There’s going to be no aspect of this operation that’s going to occur outside of the facility,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to change is what’s happening on the inside of the building. If you look at the building you would have no inclination or way of gathering that this is a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing operation.”
Seeman said the expectation is for two or three deliveries, using box trucks or vans, to take place per day.
As for the concerns over a potential increase in crime, Seeman said he believes there will be an opposite effect.
“There is no existing use in the warehouse building we are proposing to go into; it’s vacant and we’re proposing to go in there and help to stabilize the neighborhood.”
The company’s security plan was reviewed by the Hartford Police Department and said it was “thorough and well thought out,” Seeman said.
“We understand that when some people hear the word cannabis, they may have a certain reaction, but based on the care we are proposing to take to ensure that this use will be low intensity and not to create any nuisance type conditions, as well as based on the support from the NRZs and based on the staff’s comprehensive report, we hope you’ll see that River Growers is committed to this community, will help to provide jobs to local residents, 75% of jobs to local residents, and will help spur economic development.”
The company is also installing equipment to mitigate any odors that may emanate from the building, according to Seeman.
The PZC attached as a condition of its approval that the company will work with the city if an odor nuisance has developed from the facility.
The property at 121 Wawarme Ave. was sold by Tribune Real Estate Holdings to New Milford-based 121 Wawarme Investment Partners LLC for $2.6 million in April 2021.
River Growers CT will be a tenant of the building.
©2022 Hartford Courant. Visit courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Recent Comments