By Michael Coughlin Jr.
At the Community Alliance of Mission Hill’s (CAMH) meeting last month, representatives from a dispensary proposed at 1576 Tremont Street provided updates on their plans to resubmit their application after being rejected without prejudice by the Boston Cannabis Board (BCB) this summer.
“Soni DOT (the name of the proposed dispensary) is still working on its reapplication, but we wanted to keep you all looped in and give you an update and keep you informed on where the project is at,” said Quinn Heath, the attorney for the project.
As part of the update, Heath outlined some updated plans that Soni DOT will pursue while it completes the reapplication process.
The first topic he addressed was residents’ concerns about the management of Punjab Mini Mart, the previous business at the site, which was owned by Aditya Soni’s (the proponent’s) father. Heath further specified that they heard concerns about rodents at and around the property.
“Soni DOT is excited to announce that after working with local city officials, there were repairs done to issues found in the local main waterline, and there is expected to be a major reduction in the amount of rodent activity in and around that area,” said Heath.
Additionally, while Heath indicated that the establishment is still working on the final floor plan, he said it is expected that about $500,000 will be spent changing the building from a mini-mart to a dispensary and meeting health and safety codes.
Heath also mentioned that the proponents have once again met with Mission Grammar School. “We’re continuing to explore the avenues that we have to mitigate impacts of the business on the school,” he said.
Specifically, Heath noted limiting operations during pick-up and drop-off times and limiting queuing.
“For now, I’ll just say those conversations are ongoing, and I know that Soni DOT intends to meet with the Mission Grammar School at least once more and several times as this application process proceeds,” said Heath.
A significant change to the plans deals with how deliveries will be completed. In the previous plan, deliveries would be done through a side alleyway. Now, there are plans for a separate door and hallway on the left side of the building.
Moreover, regarding deliveries, Heath indicated that Soni DOT is looking to mitigate the impact of deliveries on Tremont Street. He mentioned that they have found that there is typically at least one open parking spot in front of the building between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays.
Finally, Heath briefly discussed Soni DOT’s hiring diversity goals and added, “Soni DOT is hoping to hire City of Boston residents, with a focus on Mission Hill residents.”
Following the presentation of updates, Heath took questions from those in attendance. One attendee asked if dispensaries must require patrons to enter through one door and exit through another.
However, Heath indicated that the “baseline rules” do not require entering and exiting at different doors but mentioned patrons would have their IDs checked at the front door and would enter and exit from the same way.
Another attendee had multiple questions. First, they asked if there would be a loading zone in front of the building, to which Heath said there was no dedicated loading zone in the initial plan. The resident asked for a breakdown of the $500,000 investment in the property that was previously mentioned, though Heath did not have more information on it. Finally, the resident asked for the capacity with the current plans, but that information was unavailable then.
Lastly, a question was raised about violations at the property, and Heath indicated all of the tickets had been paid.
Ultimately, the discussion ended shortly thereafter, and Heath emphasized that there would be more conversations with the community in the future.
“We’ll have more updates for you. Our intention is to keep you in the loop even as we move forward with the application and the process.”
For more information about CAMH, visit its website at https://www.camh.boston/.