A New York City-based firm has applied to the state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) and to the town Zoning Commission for permission to locate a medical marijuana dispensary at 5 Custom Drive, adjacent to the Department of Motor Vehicles on a cul-de-sac off of Spencer Plain Road.

The application from Acreage Connecticut, LLC is now being evaluated by state DCP. But few sites are chosen by the DCP—and many apply. The firm has also applied to open a dispensary in Westport.

The Old Saybrook Zoning Commission will open a public hearing on the dispensary site application on Monday, May 7. During the Zoning Commission’s public hearing, it will take testimony from the applicant, and its agent, and hear comments from the public. The Zoning Commission process is separate and distinct from the marijuana dispensary application evaluation conducted by the Connecticut DCP.

The 2018 DCP application process for a license is described on the DCP website as follows: DCP “will award between 3 and 10 dispensary facility licenses [in 2018] for locations throughout the state. The application must include the location of the proposed dispensary and documents sufficient to establish that state and local building codes, zoning, are met for the proposed location. [It] must include a map showing places used for religious worship, for schools,[and] hospitals, within 1,000 feet of the facility.”

The application to DCP also must include, in addition to the site plan and photos of the neighborhood, a written statement of consent from the landlord that it will lease space in their building to the proposed dispensary.

The deadline for submitting applications in the 2018 Request for Application (RFA) round was April 9.

The DCP first became responsible for administering Connecticut’s medical marijuana program on May 31, 2012, according to an agency fact sheet. The program allows “a qualifying patient or primary caregiver who is registered with DCP to purchase medical marijuana from a dispensary for the palliative treatment of a patient’s debilitating condition.”

Under Old Saybrook’s zoning regulations, a marijuana dispensary is considered a retail pharmacy use and as such, is permitted in B1, B2, and B4 business zones. The property at 5 Custom Drive, owned by PauleeOK LLC, is in the B4 business Zone. Permitted in this zone is a “store or other building or structure where goods are sold or service is rendered primarily at retail.”