Middletown Council Tables Firm's Med Marijuana Lease

The common council tabled a request Monday by a Fairfield-based firm to lease a 15,000 square-foot area of the city-owned Remington Rand building to grow medical marijuana.

The item was taken off the July 1 agenda, according to Middletown Democratic Majority Leader Thomas Serra, and sent to the economic development commission for discussion, because some members expressed concerns that the federal government "could seize the building and whatever is inside of it, he told Patch.

"It seems to me if that's the case, it will be a dead issue," Serra said. If seizure is possible by the feds, he added, it would affect his opinion of the lease proposal. "I will not support that."

Despite state laws approving medical marijuana, the federal maintains that marijuana is a "Schedule 1" substance with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. 

The proposal made by the Fairfield-based Greenbelt Management for 180 Johnson Street — the former Remington Rand warehouse anticipated state approval of medical marijuana regulations and was contingent on the firm being awarded one of the 3 to 10 licenses to be issued by the Department of Consumer Protection. 

According to Greenbelt's website, "recent legislation in Connecticut allowing for three or more MMJ producer licenses … poses an exciting opportunity to bring new industry vitality to the state."

While Greenbelt Management's website offers little information, it does state the company "intends to develop a 'green-minded' facility which will rely, at least in part, on alternative energy." 

The Secretary of the State's office indicates that Greenbelt, whose principal partner is listed as Jason Nickerson of Fairfield, became a limited liability company in December 2012.

Tim Houlton, who runs Zen Roasters at Remington Rand, is all for the proposal, saying if the plant was eventually allowed to operate there, it would undoubtedly increase foot traffic to small businesses like his own, as long as it did so "within the parameters of the law."

"I'm excited about creating more energy around the historic Remington Rand Building and supporting the many new small businesses that are moving in," including Sow Fresh Organics and the Forest City Brewery.

He's a proponent of medical marijuana legalization. "All should have access to the best care possible."

Although Mayor Dan Drew says he hasn't received a single complaint or concern about the proposal, several small business owners in the complex have privately raised questions and said they will be following developments, including Mike Lavoie, owner of Adaptive Movement Parkour.

"On a personal level, I understand the benefits of medical marijuana, but the very small sliver of those who it will actually benefit does not outweigh the negative connotation or stigma it will leave on this town," he says, citing the state's strict standards for a medical card in comparison to places like California. 

"I think we could rattle off several more beneficial things to do with that space or that money." 

As a business owner, Lavoie says, a plant located there would be "potentially detrimental." 

"If this vote goes through, our space will no longer be a kid-friendly environment. We would feel obligated to relocate and potentially lose some of our clientele. We have been in that factory for about four years now and we were preparing to potentially open a satellite location," Lavoie says.

Remington Rand's tenants include a diverse mix of businesses, including several fitness studios, a custom motorcycle builder, landscaping companies and an automated mail processor. Soon, Stubborn Beauty Brewery will open and both Sow Fresh Organics and Forest City Brewery have applied to Middletown's zoning board for leases in the former Keating Wheel Co. and typewriter factory, which was built in 1896.

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