Select Board approves Route 6 pot shop

Aug 23, 2022

Recreational marijuana can soon be sold on Route 6.

At its Aug. 22 meeting, the Select Board voted 4-1 to sign a host community agreement with Plainville-based Apotho Therapeutics to open a dispensary on State Road, which is outside of the Town Meeting-approved overlay district. A use variance was granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals to be at the site in July 2021.

A host agreement  — a contract stipulating terms and conditions of operation — must be in place before a cannabis company can apply for a state license. 

The new retail shop will be located in the former Near East Asian Fusion Restaurant at 747 State Road. Ideally, Apotho President Mathew said, the Dartmouth location should be open either in December or some time in the first quarter of 2023.

Although approved, officials did express concerns over the security of the building. 

Select Board member Shawn McDonald, who was the lone vote against the agreement, said he was worried about “unsavory characters” from the nearby motels potentially causing trouble when security is not on-site.

“There’s a history of bad people coming from next door,” he said. “I don’t want to give them a lollipop they can take a bite out of.”

According to Medeiros, the store will be under “uninterrupted surveillance” with no blind spots, along with a panic button that can be pressed if any suspicious activity is noticed.

There will also be a fence surrounding the rear of the building — something Select Board Vice Chair Stanley Mickelson said he would like to see extended a bit from its current height of six feet.

“The outer perimeter should be seven feet minimum,” he said.

Medeiros said he would be willing to make those adjustments.

Another concern was over increased traffic on an already busy stretch of road. 

Medeiros said similar concerns were raised when opening the first store in Plainville and that security was used to also monitor the flow of traffic.

“We’re willing to do that again,” he said.

Board members also requested that there be additional signs discouraging motorists from using the location as a place to make U-turns, which Medeiros said he would implement if needed.

With the latest agreement signed, Apotho will next need to obtain its license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.

The company is also working on constructing a cultivation facility inside the former Dartmouth Indoor Tennis building, which is located just behind the proposed retail shop. According to Medeiros, work on the site is expected to begin in 60 days.