Waterbury medical Cannabis dispensary seeks ability to offer recreational products
Waterbury Dispensary Seeks Approval to Expand to Adult-Use Cannabis Sales.
For seven years, Waterbury-area medical marijuana patients have been able to get their products from a dispensary tucked in a corner of an industrial area in the city.
Now, Caring Nature LLC hopes to also offer adult-use recreational cannabis products at its dispensary at 237 East Aurora St. The company – which is owned by Chicago-based cannabis giant Verano Holdings – has asked the city for a needed adjustment to zoning regulation.
The dispensary is in a “general industrial” zoning district that would not be open to a new cannabis business under zoning regulations adopted last year. Those uses are now restricted to “industrial park” zones under the change. But Caring Nature is grandfathered in as it predates the change.
Caring Nature has applied for a zoning change that would allow any legal, nonconforming medical cannabis dispensary in a general industrial district to convert to a hybrid cannabis retailer. Verano declined to comment on the application Thursday.
In a letter to city officials, Attorney Christopher M. Rousseau, of Pullman & Comley, wrote that Caring Nature wants to convert its state medical marijuana license to a cannabis hybrid retailer license.
Verano operates 14 cultivation and production facilities, with more than 1 million square feet of combined space, according to its website. It also owns more than 120 dispensaries and employs more than 4,000 people, according to the website.
City Planner Robert Nerney said Caring Nature’s request will be taken up by the City Planning Commission during a meeting on March 13.
