Athol officials work on process to address marijuana odor complaints

ATHOL – Following a number of verbal complaints about odors emanating from the MassGrow marijuana cultivation facility on Chestnut Hill Avenue, officials are working to create a formal process to address these issues.

The town hall web site has a form for miscellaneous complaints, but none specific to marijuana odors. It’s estimated by officials that 15 complaints have been made.

At a Selectboard meeting held on April 21, Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said that Building Commissioner Bob Legare has agreed to rework the citizen complaint form and create one which would specifically address odor complaints.

In addition, Health Agent Jane O’Brien has been in contact with the state Cannabis Control Commission to get guidance on how best to address the issue.

“Right now, I only have a couple of written complaints, and that’s really what I need to enforce the zoning side of things, because it would probably get appealed to court,” Legare said. “People need to fill out a complaint form or send an email to me with the time and the date that they smell it, with an explanation of how bad the odor is.”

Suhoski referred to the special permit granted to MassGrow by the Board of Planning and Community Development. It reads, “The applicant will make best efforts to ensure that odor from marijuana or its processing shall not be detected by a person with an unimpaired or otherwise normal sense of smell at the exterior of the licensed marijuana establishment, or any adjoining properties.”

It was agreed that Legare would serve as the town’s single point of contact for such complaints. Regardless of who receives it, it would be forwarded to the building commissioner.

O’Brien told the board, “The board of health has not received one formal complaint since they (MassGrow) opened. I’ve had people stop me on the street or speak to me when I go out for an inspection, and I said, ‘Contact the office.’ But no one has yet given us a formal complaint.”

Selectboard members Alex Blake, Jr, said he and fellow board member Russell Raymond have received more than a dozen complaints from residents “in the Chestnut Hill area.”

MassGrow Vice President of Public Affairs Matt McKenna told the Athol Daily News that the company has been working with the town to address the odor issue.

“We’d like the town to track specific times when they’re receiving the complaints,” McKenna said. “That should give us the ability to track what specific activities are taking place at MassGrow when the odors are at their worst.”

McKenna said that MassGrow staff change the air filters on a regular basis. He also said the company was unaware of any citizen complaints resulting from its cultivation operation in Amesbury, which opened more recently.

Suhoski confirmed that the town has been in regular communication with MassGrow.

“And they support the idea of a system for documenting dates and times of complaints. That way they should be able to tie them in with specific steps in the production, how they coincide with specific schedules or milestones,” he said.

The Selectboard also advised Suhoski and Planning and Development Director Eric Smith to compose an amendment to the town’s cannabis bylaws, which currently imposes a $100 a day fine for violations of the odor guidelines to bring them in line with the $300-per-day penalty imposed under state law.