Micro-cultivation of cannabis will now be possible by special exception in an additional section of Old Saybrook following a Feb. 22 Zoning Commission decision.

At a meeting on Feb. 22, the Zoning Commission approved an application for a zoning regulation change that allows for cannabis micro-cultivation in the B-4 district by special exception.

In the spring of 2022, the Old Saybrook Zoning Commission approved new regulations that banned retail marijuana stores everywhere except for the B-4 district and restricted it to locations that received approval from the town before January 2022. Only two locations received such approval. One approved location was 5 Custom Drive, next to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

This winter, an application from 5 Custom LLC was filed asking the Zoning Commission to change the regulations allowing for a micro-cultivator to be permitted in the B-4 district by special exception. 5 Custom LLC is registered to Jacqueline Appleby, according to the state’s business website. However, zoning regulations prohibited micro-cultivation in the district at the time of filing.

According to the state, “Micro-cultivators are licensed to engage in the cultivation, growing, and propagation of the cannabis plant at an establishment that is between 2,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet of grow space, prior to any expansion authorized by the Department of Consumer Protection commissioner. Once licensed, the micro-cultivator may expand up to 25,000 square feet or convert to a cultivator if they expand to more than 25,000 square feet of grow space.”

The commission opened and closed the public hearing over the application on Feb. 22. After a short discussion, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the application. Chairman Robert Friedman was the lone vote against the application.

The hearing drew only one member of the public, Ed Armstrong, to weigh in.

“I believe this is the right location for this kind of business. I also like there’s technology used in this business,” Armstrong said.

The commission also received one letter in opposition to the application. Linda Barlow wrote a letter stating her opposition to the application, largely due to environmental concerns with the business requiring substantial amounts of water to operate, and also concerns about chemicals from the operation getting into the groundwater.

In a letter to the Zoning Commission and again at the meeting on Feb. 22, Michael Rosenthal, an attorney for the application, argued that similar uses are already in use in the zone.

“The manufacture, processing, or assembling of goods is allowed by special exception in the B-4 zone and many manufacturing and processing facilities are located in that zone. A micro-cultivation use would be similar to and compatible with those existing uses and with the B-4 zone,” the letter said.

Additionally, during the meeting, it was stated that micro-cultivators do not have a retail component. The business is used only by employees and vans making deliveries or transporting products elsewhere. The general public would have no reason to access the business.

The new zoning regulations go into effect in March.

This was not the first time the commission has dealt with marijuana recently. In 2022, Fine Fettle Dispensary filed a special exception application to open a cannabis dispensary at 233 Boston Post Road, the other approved in-town location, where a cannabis location would be allowed per the regulations.

Compared to the micro-cultivation application, the retail application generated serious community input across three different public hearings last fall. Though the commission eventually denied the application, the applicants behind that application then returned in 2023 with a new application aimed at addressing the commission’s reasons for the denial of the first application. That second application was approved last month.