Odor complaints rear their head at Webster cannabis grow facility
Photo | Curaleaf
Curaleaf's marijuana dispensary in Oxford
The Webster Planning Board is set to discuss odor complaints at a 104,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility operated by Wakefield-based Curaleaf Massachusetts, Inc. at its next meeting on Nov. 29.
The issue has appeared on the board’s agenda several times throughout the year and was first brought up after a town employee visited the site, located at 30 Worcester Road, and noticed a smell coming from the property, according to Planning and Economic Development Clerk Kelly Lyman.
“Curaleaf has been actively working with the Town of Webster to find an effective solution to mitigate any odors coming from our expanded cultivation facility, and have at this point completed all action items from the most recent planning board meeting,” the company said in a statement to WBJ. “We care about being a positive presence in our community and want to reassure our neighbors that we remain committed to remediating the issue.”
The cultivation facility is located behind a Price Chopper supermarket and is otherwise bordered by a cemetery and a highway. The complaint did not come from a neighboring business, according to Lyman, and the property is not located next to any residential homes.
Minutes from a March 29 Planning Board meeting indicate Ann Morgan, Webster’s director of planning and economic development, spoke with facility manager Gary Stein about the issue. According to the minutes, Stein explained odor control and air purification units designed for the building’s recent expansion were not working to mitigate odors from the facility’s original space.
Curaleaf sold its Webster cultivation facility for $9.4 million in the summer of 2019, more than double for what the company paid for it earlier that year. The sale was part of a $28.3 million leaseback deal covering six facilities in Massachusetts, Florida, and New Jersey.
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