WHATELY — The organization interested in opening a pot store on State Road cleared what it considered a major hurdle Thursday when the Whately Zoning Board of Appeals issue a special permit for the project.
The permit was granted after representatives of ToroVerde Massachusetts III appeared before the board inside the Whately Town Offices for the continuation of a public hearing that began earlier in the month. ToroVerde President William Beetz said the next steps are to get a state license and a local building permit.
But he and Joseph Kachuroi, the national director of real estate and business development for Arizona cannabis company Harvest Inc., of which ToroVerde is an affiliate, said the special permit vote was an important step in the right direction.
“This was a great win,” Beetz said in the hallway after the vote.
The aim is to open a dispensary at 424 State Road, which now houses Sturbridge Yankee Pedlar at 424 State Road (Routes 5 and 10). The dispensary would be run by ToroVerde.
Beetz told The Recorder the building permit is necessary for planned interior renovations, which includes heating, plumbing and electrical modifications.
Kachuroi said everyone involved with ToroVerde is looking forward to becoming part of the fabric of Whately. He said the dispensary could open in six months.
At the ZBA meeting on Jan. 3, a lawyer for ToroVerde and Berkshire Design Group’s Christopher Chamberland, the civil engineer on the project, led a PowerPoint presentation to explain the project and its legal process. They explained 67.5 percent of Whately voters in 2008 voted to decriminalize marijuana at the state level, and 71 percent voted in favor of legalizing medical use in 2012. Also, 55.5 percent voted in 2016 to legalize recreational adult use of marijuana, and related growing and selling of pot and related products.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.