Norwich planners tour proposed cannabis cultivation site ahead of August public hearing

Norwich ― About a dozen city planning officials trudged through thick brush, up rocky hills and down gullies Thursday to get a close-up look at the Route 2 property where a cannabis cultivation operation is proposed.

The Commission on the City Plan on July 16 continued a public hearing on the proposed cannabis growing and processing project to allow time for members to walk the property. The walk was not part of the recorded public hearing, so no discussion was allowed, except to allow the project engineer to point out where project buildings, the access drive, parking and growing areas would be located, Director of Planning and Neighborhood Services Deanna Rhodes told participants at the start of the tour.

On Aug. 20 at 6 p.m., the planning commission is slated to continue its public hearing on the proposal for 6 acres of undeveloped land at 105 Stonington Road-Route 6 at the Norwich-Preston town line.

Bromley Lane in Norwich abuts the property to the west, and the Stonington Estates apartment complex at 102 Stonington Road is across Route 2.

Nautilus Botanicals LLC, a partnership between a Shelton hemp farmer and cannabis cultivation licensee Luis Vega and New York-based cannabis investor Merida Capital Holding, proposes to grow 1,500 to 2,000 cannabis plants and process them for adult recreational use.

The plants would be grown in pots in a fenced-in, 15,000-square-foot outdoor area initially, and the processing at first would be done in a 2,100-square-foot temporary building that also would house employee restrooms, locker rooms and offices.

A second phase would include construction of a permanent 9,600-square-foot steel building to replace the trailer and wold add a shipping/receiving area, IT closet, office and storage space. The parking area would be expanded.

Depending on market demand, the developers plan a third phase that would add a 4,400-square-foot and a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse for additional growing space.

Project engineer Jack McCartney of CLA Engineers of Norwich pointed out locations for various features of the proposed project. Maps handed out to tour participants showed the single driveway entrance at the eastern edge of the property at the Preston town line.

The main road circles to the temporary building and leads to the parking area west of the building. Where the main road curves, a narrower road leads straight back to the rear of the property leading to the two second-phase greenhouses.

The map shows an eventual 37,350-square-foot outdoor growing area in an elevated portion of the property at the northwest section of the property. It would be surrounded by a 12-foot security fence required by the state.

The plan also shows a double and triple layer of landscape plantings along Route 2 in front of the property. During the July 16 hearing, McCartney said the buildings would not be visible from the road.

During the first public hearing session, Preston farmer and Selectman Jerry Grabarek, whose dairy farm is a short distance from the project, said the plan had not addressed his questions about possible pesticide use in the cannabis-growing operation.

Grabarek participated in Thursday’s site walk, which could not address those issues outside the recorded public hearing setting.

c.bessette@theday.com