Pot-Growing Facility Proposed in North Andover

NORTH ANDOVER -- A marijuana- growing facilty is being proposed at Osgood Landing, a semi-vacant 1.1 million square foot manufacturing center.

The Board of Selectmen on Monday heard a proposal by Jeff Goldstein, who along with hid wife Orit Goldstein, own Ozzy Properties and Osgood Landing, for a large cannabis growing facility at 1600 Osgood St., the site of the former Lucent Technologies manufacturing plant, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

But residents at the April Town Meeting would need to vote to change the zoning of the property .

The proposed changes would expand the registered marijuana dispensaries zone that already exists next to Osgood Landing to include the property itself, and lift the limit on the size a marijuana facility can be, which is currently set at 20,000 square feet, according to reports.

The site at 1600 Osgood is 41 percent occupied with multiple tenants running manufacturing, retail, and storage operations, according to reports.

Massachusetts legalized recreational marijuana in November, and legislators are still working on creating the rules to regulate the legalized sale of marijuana.

Goldstein wants to grow the marijuana and supply it to medical and recreational dispensaries in the area.
In Essex County, dispensaries have provisional approval in Amesbury, Danvers, Georgetown, Gloucester, Ipswich, Lowell, Salem, Methuen and Lynn.

Legislators voted in December to delay the opening of recreational retail marijuana stores until mid-2018.
Goldstein has until March 6 to file his citizen petition with the town for it to be added to the warrant articles that will be discussed at Town Meeting in April.