P&Z juggles Honey Hill subdivision, recreational cannabis regulations

NORTH CANAAN — With two hefty agenda items on the docket, North Canaan’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission met late into the night Monday, Dec. 11. 

The meeting began with a continuation of the public hearing for a proposed 20-lot subdivision along the Housatonic River on Honey Hill Road. P&Z Chair Tim Abbott, a member of the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), recused himself from the hearing.

Representing Bruce McEver (applicant and landowner), George Johannesen of Allied Engineering asked for a 30-day continuation of the hearing. The time is needed to complete previously requested due diligence.

“We have not received all the comments from the various agencies that we were asked to contact, which could have had an impact on the layout of the lots,” acting chair Pete Brown read from Johannesen’s letter to the commission. 

Brown also read three testimonials into the record: two in opposition and one in support of the subdivision.

Letters from HVA and the Housatonic River Commission (HRC) voiced environmental concerns. Both groups noted the Wild & Scenic River status of the Housatonic and stressed the importance of preserving “core forests.”

“Fragmented forests are known to provide substandard or poor habitat for some species and in many cases less opportunity for a variety of recreational activities,” Brown read from a letter by Julia Rogers, senior land protection manager at HVA.

“Our mission is not to stop projects but to make them better projects. And this particular project is a little bit interesting for us in that we didn’t hear about it formally until Thanksgiving,” said William Tingly, chair of the HRC.

Jessica Toro, co-owner of Native Habitat Restoration, submitted testimony in support of the project. She noted the current health of the forest and cited McEver’s work to remediate the land as the reason it is viable today.

“We have seen an abundance of native species returning to the banks of the Housatonic and Blackberry rivers. It was Bruce McEver’s foresight and concern for the environment that made him substantially invest in improving the forest and riverbank health,” Brown read from Toro’s letter.

P&Z unanimously voted to continue the hearing until Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

The regular meeting agenda then began and Abbott rejoined the commission. In old business, P&Z resumed discussion of recreational cannabis regulations.

Voters approved marijuana sales in town by referendum on Nov. 7, which was later recanvassed and confirmed to have passed by a 17-vote margin. A moratorium remains in place in North Canaan through February 2024, after which time P&Z must have established regulations (or extend the moratorium).

P&Z has the power to choose which license types will be permitted, designate appropriate zones in which cannabis establishments can operate, set regulations on signage, and limit hours of operation.

All seated commission members opposed permitting large-scale growing licenses (15,000 square feet and up). P&Z was split 3-3 in an unofficial vote on whether to allow micro growers (2,000 to 10,000 square feet, with the ability to petition up to 25,000 square feet). 

Commission members cited concerns related to odor. 

“It has to be in an area which we specify,” said P&Z member Doug Humes. “Unlike the one in Sheffield, when they turn those fans on and the lady who had her house for sale couldn’t sell her house because the people turned around and walked away.”

P&Z cited the potential to limit micro growers, which must be indoor facilities, to industrial zones in which other warehouses already operate. The board also felt industrial zones could be suitable for manufacturing licenses (packaging, food and drink production, etc.) and delivery licenses (shipping companies with restrictions on warehousing products).

When discussing retail licenses, the board reviewed a series of maps showing various buffer distances from qualifying institutions. The maps showed how different areas of town would be affected after buffering from schools, charitable organizations, churches, hospitals, and other similar organizations.

Applying a 500-foot buffer from such institutions would leave sections of the commercial district suitable for retail cannabis licenses. Any greater buffer distance would eliminate commercial and central business districts entirely.

P&Z also discussed the possibility of limiting the total number of licenses to one retail store and one for micro growers permitted in North Canaan. 

Abbott said he hopes to have drafted text changes for the next meeting on Jan. 9. P&Z will review the language as a commission, to be revised and reviewed again in February.

“And then be prepared to have that go, as it needs to, as a text change for a public hearing,” said Abbott.