A chance to learn about the pot business

The public gets to ask the company questions about its proposed retail marijuana business at Monday meeting

By Mark E. Vogler

What kind of impact will a future retail pot business proposed for Route 1 South have on Saugus?

Representatives from Sanctuary Medicinals, one of two companies licensed to run an adult-use marijuana business in Saugus, will be holding a Community Outreach meeting on Monday (June 16) to answer that question and others they field from the public. The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Saugus Public Library (295 Central St.) to discuss the facility that Sanctuary Medicinals plans to build at 181 Broadway – site of the former Ninety-Nine Restaurant & Pub that closed in the spring of 2022. “Interested members of the community will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers from company representatives about the proposed facility and operations,” according to an ad published last month in The Saugus Advocate.

  “Questions can be submitted in advance by emailing p.*********@********lp.com or asked during the meeting,” it said.

  In addition, the company said it would make a presentation at least 24 hours prior to the meeting to anyone emailing the request.

Sanctuary Medicinals promotes itself as “a vertically-integrated, multi-state cannabis company with operations in Florida, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.” The company also obtained a provisional retail license in New Jersey.

  It’s already received favorable reviews from town officials in Saugus. Sanctuary was only one of two candidates that received a recommendation from the seven-member Marijuana Establishment Review Committee (MERC) for the S-2 permit. The business received a total of 118 points out of a possible 140 in a scoring system. “The Respondent’s proposed location is advantageous, and its extensive cannabis experience and current vertical integration business model are significant benefits,” the committee concluded in its analysis.

“The Respondent has a multi-level cultivation and processing facility in Littleton, along with three medical dispensaries and two adult-use retail dispensaries operating in Massachusetts. The site visit to the medical dispensary in Danvers was professional and well-run,” it continued.

“The Respondent appeared to be one of the strongest positioned to open, succeed, and provide minimal or manageable impact to the surrounding neighborhood,” it noted.

In December of 2023, Sanctuary Medicinals became the first to receive a special permit (S-2) under town zoning bylaws, on a 4-0 vote by the Board of Selectmen.