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SALEM – Witch City Gardens, one of two locally approved recreational marijuana retailers awaiting a final state license, moves its planned operation to the foot of the Beverly-Salem Bridge and donates to the Garden City a pottery shop on its doorstep.
The company, previously approved by the Salem Zoning Board and having secured a host community agreement for retail at 36-38 Jefferson St., is now taking over the former Black Lobster and Jami’s Kitchen space at 2 Bridge St. The location is the last address before Bridge Street merges with the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge connecting Salem to Cabot and Rantoul streets in Beverly. Witch City Gardens will be managed by Salem business owners Tim Haigh and Elizabeth Childs.
On Wednesday, the zoning council unanimously approved the plans for Bridge Street near the end of an at times heated meeting that lasted 5.5 hours and took place after midnight. Growing plans for Witch City Gardens – an entirely separate license and branch of the marijuana business billed to help support retail operations – are on hold to find a new location for this use.
“He went through all the bells and got approved across the board for (their Jefferson Avenue plans), but sadly the end of the real estate stuff didn’t go as planned,†attorney Bill Quinn told the board. zoning. “It was never developed, and that license, I believe, had a lifespan of two years, and it expired.”
The host community agreement with the city, which was signed on December 20, 2018, is still in effect. The company then obtained a provisional license from the state Cannabis Control Commission in June 2020.
The new Bridge Street location is “conveniently located on a busy road” for the company, Haigh told the Salem News this week. “There are 880 vehicles an hour for rush hour transit there, and the visibility is great. Our traffic study predicts that 50% of the clientele will come from the Beverly side of the bridge. “
Now, “we are going through the process of transferring our interim license to this new location, now that we have ZBA approval,” Haigh said. “We currently have a host community agreement with the city. It will just be a change of address.
The proposal sparked some objections last week, however, for its proximity to Remond Park. The park, named after 19th-century Salem abolitionists Charles and Sarah Remond, has taken over a long-unused stretch of public property that once supported the old Beverly-Salem Bridge.
Skerry Street Court resident Gretchen Buckley said “a number of people are going to enjoy the view ‘in the park,” and we are having trouble parking, as it seems to be a topic of a lot of talk tonight, but also to be in an area with small children who may also like to go.
Richard Smith, a resident of Thorndike Street, said the park was “quite used”. Opening a jar store next door would, he said, “create the potential use of the store’s products over there in the park.”
Melinda Baker, a resident of Skerry Street, added that the park is “very walkable”, as is the store. The extra traffic is therefore a problem for the Bridge Street Neck area, she explained.
“I’m really concerned that this could potentially cause a problem,†Baker said. “You might have people who may be under the influence coming out onto Bridge Street, across Bridge very quickly, into this very accessible, pedestrianized area where small children are.”
Similar concerns have been raised in the past when reviewing the licenses and permits of other marijuana retailers in Salem. That evening, Witch City Gardens was asked to explain how it would prevent customers from purchasing goods inside the store and then opening them once outside.
“If someone were to leave the establishment and use the product in a place where it is not authorized, our first action is to remind him of the law, that he is not authorized to consume products at the outside a residence and, if it has not done so. stop immediately, we would notify the police and it would be reported, â€Haigh said. “We would send our employee or safety officer there to let them know that simply using the product near the store would violate our license.”
Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or [email protected]. Follow him on facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
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