Another shot to run a pot shop

Land Court judge rules selectmen must reconsider company’s application for a special permit to operate a retail marijuana dispensary

By Mark E. Vogler

SAUGUS – A year ago, Uma Flowers LLC fell one vote short of obtaining a special permit (S-2) from the Board of Selectmen to operate a retail marijuana dispensary on Route 1. The company later alleged in a complaint filed against the town and the Board of Selectmen in state Land Court that then-Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano – the lone member to oppose Uma Flowers in a 3-1 vote – “appeared to act with bias against Uma and in favor of Bostica,” another company competing for an S-2 permit. During the hearing, Cogliano admitted that he enjoyed a personal friendship for 30 years with Raymond Falite, Bostica’s manager.

“Mr. Cogliano issued his negative vote to Uma for reasons not related to the purposes of the Zoning Act, and for alleged shortcomings in the Application that did not exist and were fabricated by Mr. Cogliano, a clear indication of his failure to consider Uma’s proposal on its merits,” the four-count complaint alleged.

After two days of trial last week, Judge Michael D. Vhay issued a judgement in favor of Uma Flowers against selectmen on one of the four counts and ordered that the Board of Selectmen’s 3-1 vote be annulled and the case be returned to selectmen for further proceedings.

“The Board is ordered to begin the rehearing ‘no later than 45 days after entry of this Judgment,’” Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta told The Saugus Advocate this week.

“So we will need to schedule this hearing by January 24th. As with any Special (S2) permit, the applicant needs four votes for it to pass,” Panetta said.

Unless Cogliano decides to switch his vote, the upcoming hearing could end with the same result of Uma Flowers failing to get the necessary four-fifths vote for the issuance of the S-2 permit. It’s also possible that Uma Flowers could still prevail without Cogliano’s vote. During last year’s hearings, Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeffrey Cicolini had recused himself after disclosing a potential conflict of interest because of his company’s relationship with one of the applicants.

“I do plan to check with the Ethics Commission to get an opinion as I feel the conflict should be removed given my firm’s client is no longer involved in the process,” Cicolini told The Saugus Advocate this week.

“I will go by whatever they tell me to do,” he said.

Cogliano did not respond to The Saugus Advocate’s requests for comment. The attorneys representing Uma Flowers did not return telephone calls or emails left at their Andover law offices.

Judge Vhay found in favor of the Board of Selectmen in three of the four counts. In Count II, Uma Flowers sought various declarations that Selectman Cogliano “was impermissibly biased against Uma Flowers’ special permit application.” In Count III, Uma Flowers sought a declaration that it was entitled to its requested special permit. In Count IV, Uma Flowers sought a declaration that Cogliano’s failure to recuse himself from the Board’s consideration of Uma Flowers’ application violated the company’s right to due process.

In March, the court dismissed Uma Flowers’ claims against the Town of Saugus in Count I. Later that month, the parties agreed to the dismissal of Uma Flowers’ remaining claims against the town.

Uma Flowers is based in Pepperell, Mass. Two women – Pryanka Patel and Tejal Patel – own the company. The owners have years of pharmaceutical and cannabis experience, handling of controlled substances and analyzing and improving community health, according to the complaint. Uma Flowers operates marijuana retail business in Pepperell and Lunenburg, Mass.

Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis is listed as Uma’s Director of Security. Former Saugus Police Chief Domenic DiMella was listed as the company’s community liaison for Saugus, according to the court record.

Other than Cogliano, who voted in support of the other six applicants that were seeking one of three S-2 permits to open a retail marijuana business in Saugus, no other town officials have opposed Uma Flowers’ application.

Uma Flowers was just one of two applicants that were recommended by the town’s Marijuana Establishment Review Committee (MERC). With its proposed location at 24 Broadway (Route 1 North) – the site of a former house that was torn down – Uma was the unanimous selection of the seven-member committee, achieving a perfect score of 140 total points, based on an “exceptional” rating by each member in each of the five categories that were considered. The MERC ranked Bostica sixth out of seven in its report. The committee determined that Bostica “did not meet the criteria necessary to earn a recommendation.”

Cogliano criticized the findings of the MERC and disparaged the committee’s choice of Uma Flowers.

“The Denial does not accurately portray the comments and conclusions of the Board, fails to set forth a legal, substantive basis for the special permit denial and is not based on the discussion that took place at the hearing,” the Uma complaint said.

“As noted above, the Committee expressly found Uma’s proposed location, parking, and egress to be exemplary,” it concluded.