Hinsdale venture gears up to turn former mink farm into indoor cannabis cultivation | Central Berkshires

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172 aerial Peru route.jpg

Sunlight Farms LLC is proposing to establish an indoor cannabis farm at this location at 172 Peru Road in Hinsdale.



HINSDALE – A joint venture involving Silver Therapeutics, a cannabis company with operations in Williamstown and Orange, is set to file an application to expand in a neighborhood in Hinsdale.

Towards the end of 2021, Sunlight Farms LLC sent the town a check for $ 15,000, as required by the host community agreement it made with Hinsdale last year. The money is a deposit required to cover consulting costs incurred by the city in evaluating the company’s proposal to build an indoor marijuana farm at 172 Peru Road.

The city’s deal with Sunlight Farms LLC was signed by Joshua Silver, who listed his establishment at 238 Main St. in Williamstown, where the Silver Therapeutics retail store is located.

“Mr. Silver is putting it forward,†said Bob Graves, the administrator for the city of Hinsdale.

Silver said on Tuesday that engineers are still working on detailed drawings of the project that will be submitted – and soon, he hopes. “Everything seems to be taking a lot longer these days,†he said. “When we met the select committee, we had [only] conceptual drawings. “

In December 2020, Silver offered to prepare a greenhouse of about 6,000 square feet at 172 Peru Road, which houses a former mink farm. He said at the time that he planned to use an existing structure on the property and use solar power available on the site.






Silver Therapeutics managers (copy)

Joshua Silver, right, joined colleagues in 2019 to mark the opening of their outlet in Williamstown. From left to right, Brendan McKee, CFO; Joshua Ferranto, COO; and Silver. A new joint venture between Silver Therapeutics and a Hinsdale landowner is proposing an indoor cannabis grow project at 172 Peru Road in Hinsdale.



That remains the plan, he said this week. An existing two-story warehouse with approximately 3,000 square feet of space would be reallocated to the greenhouse. The building is located at the back of a house on the site and was once used as part of the mink farm.

The project is a joint venture between Silver Therapeutics and owner Michael A. Viner, who has developed a solar field on the plot that the greenhouse plans to use as an energy source.

“It has the potential to have very low impacts,†Silver said, due to its use of solar power.

The city’s host community agreement with Sunlight Farms provides for a Level II farm under Cannabis Control Board rules, which would allow the company to build 6,800 square feet of grow space in interior, plus an additional 2,400 square feet of processing and storage space.

Silver said the company plans to submit its candidacy for the Hinsdale farm to the commission this month. There would be no retail sales on the property. All cannabis products would be sold through Silver Therapeutics outlets or the wholesale market.

The property is owned by Global Construction Services LLC, the principal of which is Viner of Hinsdale. Records filed with the Secretary of State’s office indicate that Silver and Viner are co-managers of Sunlight Farms.

Graves said the city expects to receive an application for a special permit for the farm which will be considered by the planning council. Silver said he didn’t know when the application would be filed, but said he hoped it would be submitted in the first quarter of the year.

Land records show that Viner purchased the 172 Peru Road property for $ 250,000 in July 2017 from Earl Carmel Trust.

If the project receives city approvals, it will pay Hinsdale 3 percent of its gross sales, in quarterly installments, as agreed by the host community. This pact would be renegotiated in five years; if the parties could not agree on the changes, it would remain in effect.

Pot trade explodes in Williamstown as more stores plan to open

The company also pledges to donate $ 2,500 per year for five years as a “community benefit” and to donate $ 2,500 annually to a local charity, for the duration of the l ‘agreement with the host community.

The document required Sunlight Farms to deposit $ 15,000 with the city before any expenses incurred by Hinsdale during the review of the cannabis project application.

Outdoor cultivation is prohibited, except with the consent of the Board of Directors.

Other provisions of the agreement require the company to consult with local law enforcement officials on the property’s security system and policies and to do its best to do business with local suppliers and hire locally.

The agreement also states that if at least five “reasonable complaints” are made about farm smells, the board can call the parties to a meeting to discuss the matter.

Hinsdale neighborhood faces new cannabis cultivation proposition

This isn’t the first time that a cannabis business has been launched for the neighborhood, near Lake Ashmere in the northeastern part of Hinsdale. Before meeting and ultimately bowing to neighborhood opposition, FFD Enterprises MA proposed an outdoor cannabis farm at 246 Peru Road.

This company chose to move its location to 120 Bullards Crossing Road, where it harvested its first harvest in 2021.

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