DANBURY — Some local leaders see the legalization of marijuana as an economic opportunity for the city, while others are less eager for recreational pot sales.
Danbury is considering a temporary moratorium on cannabis establishments to give the city more time to determine how to regulate them, including where they should go.
“For me, the challenges are enormous,” Mayor Joe Cavo said. “Where is it going to be? How are you going to keep it away from children? There’s so much to it.”
Newtown has already banned cannabis establishments, while Ridgefield is expected to consider doing the same. Other towns have not figured out their plans.
“This could be an opportunity for the city,” said Paul Rotello, the Democratic minority leader on City Council. “We could be the go-to place for the marijuana industry in Western Connecticut.”
He said he sees the economic benefit. Once retail pot sales begin in late 2022, municipalities where cannabis is sold will earn a 3 percent sales tax.
But Rotello’s not completely thrilled that the city could become the region’s pot mecca.
“I would prefer it to be exercise equipment or fruits and vegetables, something we could be confident we could get behind and promote to surrounding communities,” he said.
It’s not Cavo’s preferred method for tax dollars either.
“But it’s here now, and so now I have to deal with it,” he said.
Others would welcome recreational dispensaries.
John Esposito III, a City Council member and Democratic candidate for mayor, said he would support incentives to bring dispensaries downtown, where the city is revitalizing with new sidewalks.
“We need to give people a reason to come downtown,” he said.
Retail sales
Cavo said he won’t prevent marijuana retailers from coming to Danbury.
“It is what it is,” he said. “Marijuana is now legal in the state of Connecticut. We’re just going to do the best we can with it, make sure that people’s needs are served and we do the best job of managing it that we can.”
Dean Esposito, the mayor’s chief of staff and the Republican candidate for mayor, said the city needs to explore further whether dispensaries are right for Danbury.
“We’re really at such an early stage and it needs to be evaluated for what’s going to be best for Danbury citizens in the end,” he said.
Roberto Alves, a City Council member and Democratic candidate for mayor, said he would embrace cannabis establishments.
“We get 3 percent on the sales tax — that stays in the community for something that is legal, for something that has been deemed safer than alcohol,” he said.
Marijuana has been known as a gateway drug, which worries Dean Esposito. He said the city would need to put the tax revenue from pot sales toward educating the community about the drug.
“We’re going to have to make investments in our community with educating our youth here and everybody,” he said.
The west side of the city could be a good spot for dispensaries because it’s easy for New Yorkers to access, Alves said.
“Why not have the profits come in from the out-of-state market, as well?” he said.
Dispensaries shouldn’t be in places where they could easily market to children, but the city should consider that with vape shops, too, Alves said.
“Those are like dandelions in my yard,” he said.
State law permits one recreational dispensary per 25,000 people, so the roughly 85,000-resident Danbury would be allowed three.
“This is going to create new businesses,” John Esposito III said. “This could potentially create jobs and certainly the nicest thing, the best thing I welcome the most, is the tax revenue this is going to generate.”
Moratorium proposed
The lengthy bill legalizing recreational marijuana was signed just over a week before it went into effect and the city needs more time to digest it, Cavo said.
“I just need time to be proactive and be able to research how it affects us and give it some long-time thought and planning in order to make the right decisions,” he said.
The Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on July 27 to discuss a proposed moratorium on applications, petitions and issuance of permits related to cannabis establishments. This ban would last at most a year, less if the city develops regulations on marijuana use sooner, the planning director has said.
“The moratorium gives us a good opportunity to really evaluate where we are and where we’ve got to be and what kind of mandates there may be and what we have control of,” Dean Esposito said.
Alves said he’s against the moratorium.
“It gives the city another excuse to do nothing,” said Alves, adding a task force could develop regulations in a few months.
Vinny DiGilio, the City Council president, said a pause would make sense because the bill was approved quickly.
“A very thoughtful process is necessary to determine what’s best for Danbury and all of its business,” he said.
John Esposito III supports the moratorium, but doesn’t think it should last a year. Around three months is reasonable, he said.
“I would really hate to see the city of Danbury lose out on the opportunity to allow business owners to set up shop here in Danbury,” he said.
Licenses to open a recreational dispensary are expensive, so Rotello said he doesn’t think Danbury would miss its chance by waiting.
Danbury implemented a moratorium after medical marijuana was legalized in the state, but these dispensaries are now permitted. One expects to move to Mill Plain Road by early August.
Smoking spaces
Some larger Connecticut cities, including Danbury, that opt to regulate public use of cannabis must designate outdoor smoking areas.
Cavo is putting together a group of city department heads, led by the planning director, to explore this.
The city may be able to use cigarette smoking rules as a “blueprint” for marijuana, DiGilio said. But it’s a unique aspect of the law, Dean Esposito said.
“We don’t have a designated drinking area in the city,” he said.
Selecting where community members may smoke pot may be complicated, officials said. It has to be an area where the smell and second-hand smoke wouldn’t bother children and others, for example. Driving safety must be considered, too, officials said.
Towns surrounding Danbury are not required to create these spaces because of their population size, so people could come to the city not just to buy weed, but to smoke it, Rotello said.
“We’d be the smoking mecca of pot, so this needs to be considered,” he said.
John Esposito III said he would prefer people smoke pot in their own homes, while still obeying their landlords’ rules. Some renters are not permitted to smoke in their apartments or houses.
“We don’t want to be smoking it on the playground where there are children around,” he said. “We want to be respectful of people’s personal space.”
