EASTHAMPTON — Turning left at the intersection of Ferry and Parsons streets isn’t always advised. Oftentimes, those who slowly inch forward past the stop sign on Parsons Street are met with a line of oncoming traffic from Ferry Street.
But future visibility could potentially be upgraded and reimagined from funding appropriated from cannabis revenue in the city.
For fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the city has accumulated more than $1.7 million in revenue in its cannabis impact fee stabilization fund from two of the city’s recreational cannabis retailers, INSA and The Verb is Herb, according to a report from City Auditor Hetal G. Patel.
In addition to INSA, which is located at 122 Pleasant St. in the Keystone Mill, and The Verb is Herb at 74 Cottage St., the city’s adult-use retail sites include: Liberty, located at 155 Northampton St. and Plesantrees at 195 Northampton St. Since Liberty and Pleasantrees opened at a later date than INSA and The Verb is Herb, their community impact fees are not yet available for spending by the city.
The city issued a fifth special permit to Apical Inc. earlier this year. The retailer, which intends to do business as “Fyre Ants,” has not opened its 102 Northampton St. shop.
Under the terms of Easthampton’s five-year host community agreement with cannabis retailers, businesses are required to pay the city 3% of their annual sales revenue. This revenue is deposited into the Cannabis Impact Fee Stabilization Fund.
According to their agreement, these funds must only be used for areas that are “reasonably related” to the impact of cannabis, said Mayor Nicole LaChapelle. And traffic is one area that has been impacted by the cannabis retail shops, she said.
“We receive various requests all the time, like to build a dog park, for example. We can’t do that. Funding must be reasonably related,” said LaChapelle.
Language in the statute states that the community impact fee “shall be reasonably related to thecosts imposed upon the municipality by the operation of the marijuana establishment.”
One of the first requests for allocation from the cannabis stabilization fund came from City Planner Jeff Bagg for $46,000 for preliminary design services associated with the Parsons and Ferry streets intersection. The request was approved in October 2020, following a public hearing and City Council approval. Any expenditures from the fund must be approved by the City Council by a two-thirds vote.
“This has never been a great intersection, but with the impact of traffic in the city increasing exponentially, it’s a mess now,” LaChapelle said.
The Parsons and Ferry streets intersection project is one of several appropriations that has been made from the cannabis stabilization fund.
Most recently, the City Council approved $30,000 to be allocated from the cannabis stabilization fund to resources and funding for the Emily Williston Memorial Library.
“The $30,000 will help relieve the pressure on our endowment draw and it will be focused on spending toward normal operations. We’re looking forward to any future collaborations with the city,” said Elizabeth Appelquist, president of the library board of directors, at a recent council meeting.
A $10,000 request to fund additional resources at the library was also approved earlier this year.
In the largest payout from the stabilization fund, the City Council also approved $328,771.50 from the cannabis stabilization fund for the additional cost of the FY 2022-24 police union contract and for the payout of Police Sgt. Bruce Nicol’s July 11 retirement.
There are currently four adult-use retail cannabis establishments that are open in Easthampton.
The council also approved $25,000 in funding for the installation of pedestrian improvements on Route 10 — for rectangular rapid flashing beacons.
Clerk records have been allocated $50,000 from the funds, legal services $100,000 and the Planning Department $97,000. The Fire Department/EMS has been allocated funds of $61,450 for its budget as a result of increased demand for EMS as a result of cannabis retailers. The Fire Department/EMS has also received allocations of $63,000, $4,900, $13,095.24 and $298,872.
“Even before we signed the host community agreements, police, fire, the DPW and planning departments have been slammed with applications and inspections (from these cannabis establishments),” said LaChapelle.
In total, the council has voted and approved $1.45 million in funding requests from the cannabis stabilization fund. According to the December audit report provided by Patel, the current balance in the fund is $568,978.
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com *This story has been updated to correctly identi fy Parsons Street as the location where motorists turn on to Ferry Street. The language in the statute has also been clarified.