Leicester Public Meeting To Address Traffic From Marijuana Outlet

LEICESTER, MA — The board of selectmen and planning board have called an emergency meeting Monday night to address traffic problems caused by the large number of customers coming to the town's new recreational marijuana dispensary. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., at the town hall and is open to the public.

Cultivate, which opened last Tuesday, was one of the first two recreational marijuana retail facilities in the state. According to estimates from Police Chief James Hurley, more than 1,000 customers came to Leicester to buy weed legally for the first time. A line of cars went a quarter-mile down Route 9, he said.

Long lines have continued since the store's opening.

Normally, the state's open meeting laws require at least 48 hours notice for a municipality to hold a public meeting. There is an exception for emergencies. Town officials have determined that the traffic congestion has been so severe, that the emergency meeting, announced on Monday morning, was warranted. In addition to traffic, town officials said parking needs to be addressed.

"These concerns became relevant only after it was determined the initial rush of customers to the business would be greater and longer in duration than initially forecast," the meeting notice said. "This meeting is called to discuss options to address said concerns on a timely basis."

Francy Wade, a spokesperson with Cultivate, told Patch that although the dispensary is excited to see so much business early on, but they are taking the town's concerns seriously.

"We are seeing an extended period of high volume sales at Cultivate. While that is really exciting, the most important thing to us is that we are being good neighbors in the community," Wade said. "We will be working with the town to improve parking and continue to make this roll-out as smooth as possible."

Photo of line outside Cultivate on Nov. 2o by Jimmy Bentley