HULL, MASS. (WHDH) - A plan to build a medical marijuana dispensary next to Nantasket Beach is leaving Hull residents with some mixed feelings.
The facility, proposed for a long-abandoned building at the foot of Nantasket Beach, has residents of the town drawing lines in the sand.
“This proposal has been getting a lot of opinions,” Hull Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Jennifer Constable said. “It’s the gateway to the community.”
The “seed to sale” proposal by the local company Latitude 42 Therapeutics would grow and sell medical cannabis onsite.
Though not everyone is on board with their idea — some in the community have started an online petition arguing it is bad for the area.
“It’s a wonderful place, open to everybody,” Tricia Skoler who opposes the facility said. “It’s not the appropriate message that we want to give them.”
Marie Schleiff, a resident of Hull and the leading financial supporter of the Paragon Carousel agreed, releasing a statement that read:
“Although medical marijuana products have legitimate applications, we do not think that having a manufacturing and processing facility here in Hull is worth the enormous risks when it comes to possible explosions, odors and chemical emissions, let alone the traffic and parking issues it will pose in an already congested area, especially in the summertime.”
But residents in favor believe it would create local jobs and beautify a building that has been empty for more than a decade.
“It might actually make this section look nicer and a little less dated and rundown,” supporter Katie Barclay said. “A lot of Hull needs some updating and we need to move forward.”
The project designers released a statement reading:
“This site is in need of significant investment and for nearly 20 years has sat without benefit or purpose for our residents and town. Our vertically integrated medical cannabis research, development and care facility will bring the revenues necessary to renovate the structure with the least amount of impact for our neighbors.”
The project will be pitched to the Board of Selectmen during an open online meeting on Wednesday.
“Whatever ends up here will be a statement to what the community wants, what the investors in the community want, and that’s what we want to hear,” Constable said.
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