My takeaways from the weed meeting tonight Thalia Tringo <thalia@thaliatringorealestate.com>: Feb 09 01:52AM -0500
Hi all,
Tonight was the second public meeting for Garden Remedies (GR), the applicant for a marijuana dispensary on the former Family Dollar space, at the Baptist church on College Ave. at 6:30 pm. I don't know how other people there felt, but I thought I'd share my impressions.
To clarify my position, I don't object to medical marijuana dispensaries in general. My concerns are (a) the unsuitability of the location in Davis Sq; (b) safety - some or all of the transactions are cash and customers enter with cash and leave with boutique drugs - def a target for muggers; (c) probable later conversion of the facility to a recreational weed store; (d) the fact that there may be two weed places across from each other in Davis Sq. as well as one in E. Somerville and one in Union Sq. - in addition to other locations in Cambridge, nearby. Is the demand for medical weed really that high?
First, the group of attendees was much smaller than the last meeting. Second, the applicant seemed better prepared than last time. Third, I'm still not enthusiastic about it. Here are my takeaways:
*Location: * I still haven't heard a compelling reason that they need to be in Davis Sq., in a street-level retail site, other than that the City approved two locations in Davis Sq. and they'd like one of them. When pressed, they acknowledged that patients with med marijuana prescriptions can have the weed legally delivered to them at their homes. Since that is true, I still don't understand why a store is needed. It would be more economical for the company and more private and convenient for the patient to choose medications via phone/Skype/FaceTime/etc. consultations with trained staff and then have it delivered.
There's no parking to accommodate the 100-150 customers they anticipate coming through 7 days a week during their 9 am-9 pm business hours. (Their commercial broker assured me they determined there was "plenty of parking" and there was a traffic study. I disagreed about the parking, and another person wisely noted that whatever parking study they had did not include the impact of 2 weed stores and a new grocery store on that block.)
*Competition:* The Garden Remedies team were unfazed when asked about a competing location directly across the street. They thought it would attract more people to look at the choices at both locations. So, they see Davis as a point of destination for medical marijuana.
Thalia Tringo's report on the marijuana mtg-- part I
Thalia Tringo <thalia@thaliatringorealestate.com>: Feb 09 01:52AM -0500
Hi all,
Tonight was the second public meeting for Garden Remedies (GR), the
applicant for a marijuana dispensary on the former Family Dollar space, at
the Baptist church on College Ave. at 6:30 pm. I don't know how other
people there felt, but I thought I'd share my impressions.
To clarify my position, I don't object to medical marijuana dispensaries in
general. My concerns are (a) the unsuitability of the location in Davis
Sq; (b) safety - some or all of the transactions are cash and customers
enter with cash and leave with boutique drugs - def a target for muggers;
(c) probable later conversion of the facility to a recreational weed store;
(d) the fact that there may be two weed places across from each other in
Davis Sq. as well as one in E. Somerville and one in Union Sq. - in
addition to other locations in Cambridge, nearby. Is the demand for medical
weed really that high?
First, the group of attendees was much smaller than the last meeting.
Second, the applicant seemed better prepared than last time. Third, I'm
still not enthusiastic about it. Here are my takeaways:
*Location: * I still haven't heard a compelling reason that they need to be
in Davis Sq., in a street-level retail site, other than that the City
approved two locations in Davis Sq. and they'd like one of them. When
pressed, they acknowledged that patients with med marijuana prescriptions
can have the weed legally delivered to them at their homes. Since that is
true, I still don't understand why a store is needed. It would be more
economical for the company and more private and convenient for the patient
to choose medications via phone/Skype/FaceTime/etc. consultations with
trained staff and then have it delivered.
There's no parking to accommodate the 100-150 customers they anticipate
coming through 7 days a week during their 9 am-9 pm business hours. (Their
commercial broker assured me they determined there was "plenty of parking"
and there was a traffic study. I disagreed about the parking, and another
person wisely noted that whatever parking study they had did not include
the impact of 2 weed stores and a new grocery store on that block.)
*Competition:* The Garden Remedies team were unfazed when asked about a
competing location directly across the street. They thought it would
attract more people to look at the choices at both locations. So, they see
Davis as a point of destination for medical marijuana.
[part II to come]