A California-based cannabis retailer is looking to make Dartmouth among its first forays into the Massachusetts market. 

Representatives from Megan's Organic Market, which is based out of San Luis Obispo, held a public outreach meeting on plans to construct a 26,000 square-foot retail store at 299 Faunce Corner Road. The company is also working to open a location in Rochester.

The lot in Dartmouth currently contains a plastic surgery facility and Southcoast Health’s Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic. This proposed store would be built on an undeveloped parcel of land behind the building.

A special permit for the facility was unanimously approved by the Planning Board last June. Under state law, prospective cannabis business applicants are required to host community outreach meetings before applying for its final operation license.

“We’re really stoked about bringing the concept of our company here to Massachusetts,” said Nicholas Andre, the chief operating officer for the retailer.

Megan’s Organic Market was co-founded in 2013 by CEO Megan Souza as a medical cannabis delivery service. The women-owned business opened its flagship store in 2016 in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Unlike other dispensaries, which Andre said can be more like a stop at a pharmacy, the goal of Megan’s Organic Market is to have it be a “normal store” with packages displayed on the shop floor with education materials on those products.

Due to state regulations, the items on display can only be “dummy packages.” Those packages would be swapped for the actual product upon purchase. Products would be cultivated and manufactured by Massachusetts-based partners since, under federal law, marijuana cannot be transported across state lines.

Sample flowers can be smelled, although these products would have to be stored in a locked case.

“[We’re] just trying to normalize the cannabis shopping experience,” Andre said. “It’s kind of this Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods sort of vibe.”

Andre, who is originally from Rhode Island and took classes at UMass Dartmouth, said the market in Dartmouth is the precise fit for an East Coast expansion for Megan’s Organic Market.

“Our markets we go after are more suburban markets — middle and upper class communities,” he said.

Rebecca Levesque, a marketing executive from Freetown who grew up in New Bedford, said she’s also personally invested in having Dartmouth be the spot.

“Dartmouth is very familiar to me,” she said. “My entire family is from [here].”

The location of the town’s Marijana Overlay District — which is located along Faunce Corner Road, north of the railroad tracks — was also something that appealed to the company.

“Having that proximity to the freeway and all the medical facilities on Faunce Corner Road, we felt that made sense,” Andre said.

Andre noted that the choice is not between Dartmouth or Rochester and that the intention is to open in both locations.

Delivery is not planned in Dartmouth at this time, but Andre said it could always be a possibility down the line. Doing so would require a separate permit from and an ordinance change from the Town of Dartmouth, as cannabis deliveries are not allowed.

According to Andre, there will be tight security at this store, with doors and windows will be alarmed along with a 24-hour surveillance feed Dartmouth police can access.             

Among the benefits include the receipt of 3% of the company’s revenue per year through a community impact fee as well as local sales taxes, plus a $50,000 bonus for the town to use in various department budgets.

According to Andre, initial projections predict $13 million in revenue, meaning the town would receive $390,000. The COO stressed that revenue could be significantly lower due to volatility in the state’s cannabis market.

“By the time this is open, we’ll be able to see a more accurate projection,” he said.

The retailer next has to make a host community agreement —a contract stipulating terms and conditions of operation — with the Select Board. After an agreement is reached, the retailer will then have to get a license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.

Should the project move forward, Andre said construction would ideally begin later in the year and the store would open the following spring.