Charlton pot farm battle is taken to the state

 By Debbie LaPlaca
Correspondent

Posted Jun 18, 2018 at 9:55 PM  

Updated Jun 18, 2018 at 9:55 PM

 

Residents take the pot farm battle to state authorities as selectmen prepare to hear complaints Tuesday

CHARLTON – Residents have taken the pot farm battle to state authorities and will petition selectmen at a board meeting Tuesday to rescind a host agreement that could bring the largest marijuana business in the state to town.

Valley Green Grow’s proposed $100 million project to construct a large-scale marijuana cultivation, sales and research center on Charlton Orchards land is on the selectmen’s agenda for 8 p.m. Tuesday at Heritage School at 34 Oxford Road.

Valley Green Grow has a purchase agreement for the 94-acre orchard at 44 Old Worcester Road, which abuts Route 20 to the north and a residential neighborhood to the south.

Selectmen approved host and development agreements with the North Andover company at a May 15 meeting.

Although the development agreement calls for greenhouse of 1 milliion to 3 million square feet, Valley Green Grow officials at a May 29 community meeting said they plan to construct 800,000 to 1.5 million square feet.

Hundreds attended that community meeting, at which residents made known their concerns about property values, the facility’s proximity to homes and schools, and traffic on Old Worcester Road.
Residents also criticized selectmen for what they called a lack of transparency leading to the 4-0 vote to approve the agreements and called for the board to rescind and restart the process.

In a news release Friday, Old Worcester Road resident Margaret Russell said, “It is the wrong size and in the wrong part of town.”

Members and supporters of the citizens group Preserve Charlton’s Character, she said, are campaigning door to door and are researching environmental, water, health, nuisance and other concerns with such large-scale facilities.

Ms. Russell forwarded a complaint that her husband, Gerard F. Russell, filed with the state Ethics Commission calling for a probe into the actions of Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis J. Meskus.
The development agreement stipulates Valley Green Grow will make a one-time payment of $500,000 to the town to be used toward constructing a new public safety complex for the Police and Fire departments.

Since Mr. Meskus also serves as an assistant fire chief, Mr. Russell asserts, he had a conflict of interest when he rendered a March 20 opinion that the orchard is properly zoned for the use proposed by Valley Green Grow.

“Mr. Meskus is uniquely positioned as the Charlton Zoning Enforcement Officer, Building Commissioner and Assistant Fire Chief to provide VGG with an affirmative decision on zoning compliance, while also achieving a longtime goal of building a new fire department headquarters,” Mr. Russell wrote in his June 13 complaint.

To this, Mr. Meskus said in an interview Monday, “I made my decision on the allowability of that project to go forward on March 20, which was before the host agreement was initiated. I understand zoning is complicated and I understand that marijuana has a multitude of perceived issues, but I can only read and interpret the bylaw as it is written.”

Ms. Russell also forwarded a complaint written by attorney Francis B. Fennessey, on behalf of the Russells, to the state attorney general’s office arguing the article to install zoning for marijuana businesses was flawed and misrepresented when it was adopted at the May 21 town meeting. The attorney general’s office has the power to ratify or revoke the article.

The citizens group, Ms. Russell said, will present a petition to selectmen Tuesday calling for a special town meeting to rescind the earlier zoning vote and re-examine how the town should site marijuana businesses.

Meanwhile, Nathan R. Benjamin Jr. of Charlton Orchards Group LLC has asked selectmen to consider his right to sell his property for an allowed use and what’s best for the whole town over the protests of abutters before turning away the Valley Green Grow plan.

Selectmen on Tuesday are also expected to discuss a state Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Mr. Russell with the town clerk on May 31.

The Charlton Orchards abutter alleges selectmen violated the law in their posting of the May 15 meeting, at which the board approved the agreements.

In his complaint, Mr. Russell wrote the law requires public meeting notices to be sufficiently specific to reasonably inform the public of the issues to be discussed and, in his opinion, the May 15 posting was “sorely lacking.”

Mr. Russell also filed two Open Meeting Law complaints on June 5 against the Charlton Marijuana Advisory Committee.

The committee’s May 16 agenda, he wrote, listed “Host Agreement” without any specifics about the entity, location or action.

“This is a clear violation ... in that specifics necessary for the public to understand the nature of the agenda item to be discussed were not made known to the public,” he wrote.

In the second complaint against the advisory committee, Mr. Russell said the May 16 meeting was posted on May 15, which is less than the 48 hours advance posting required by law.

Mr. Russell asks the advisory committee to acknowledge the violations and to comply with the law in the future.

Gerard F. Russell, assistant managing editor of the Telegram & Gazette, has recused himself from any involvement with this news story.