Northeast Alternatives seeks to open its second retail pot shop in Swansea

SWANSEA – Northeast Alternatives, which opened Fall River’s first recreational cannabis dispensary last year, is now trying to open a second dispensary in Swansea.

Representatives of the dispensary went before the Board of Selectmen Tuesday evening to request the local approval known as a letter of non-opposition, which all proposed dispensaries need to receive prior to applying for a retail sales license with the state Cannabis Control Commission. The company intends to build a dispensary at a property that currently is home to a Suzuki dealership at 610 Grand Army of the Republic Highway.

In Swansea, issuance of letters of non-opposition is done at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen, who expressed some hesitance at granting a letter to Northeast Alternatives Tuesday.

Part of that hesitance, selectmen explained, was due to the fact that the board had already issued three letters to other companies. Other concerns, referenced by Chairman Steven Kitchin and Selectmen Derek Heim, were specific to Northeast Alternatives being the applicant.

Kitchin alluded to the investigations into Fall River’s cannabis industry, from which former mayor Jasiel Correia allegedly attempted to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars, as one reason for him to be hesitant.

According to Kitchin, the town of Swansea received one of the subpoenas issued by the U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office to communities throughout the state following Correia’s arrest on extortion charges last year. While Kitchen did not discuss many of the specific details outlined in the subpoena, ones issued to other Massachusetts towns last November requested further information on the interactions and financial agreements made between municipal officials and dispensary representatives.

“No one was angrier than the three of us when we got this blanket subpoena,” Kitchen told Northeast Alternatives CEO Christopher Harkins. “You’re catching it tonight, and I’m sorry for that, but if you can provide evidence that you were not involved categorically in any of the malfeasance that occurred in Fall River, I think that would go a long way to put the concerns of this board to rest.”

Harkins told the board that he would be willing to provide documentation that showed his company had not been involved in the alleged crimes committed in Fall River.

“We had absolutely no involvement in the indictment against the mayor there,” said Harkins.

Board members also referenced the traffic complaints that residents have expressed in the neighborhood surrounding Northeast Alternative’s Fall River dispensary, however Tuesday’s discussion was more focused on the fact that the town had already issued three letters of non-opposition that had yet to yield any open businesses.

Selectman Derek Heim said, “At this point, I’m not really interested in taking up any more letters of non-opposition.”

Kitchin reported being frustrated at the lack of correspondence from the businesses the Board of Selectmen has already worked with.

“I can understand Mr. Heim’s frustration with the issuance of letters of non-opposition because there’s been a deafening silence from the developers who we put our reputations at risk with in supporting these endeavors,” he said.

Thus far three other businesses — True Nature’s Wellness, Green Line Dispensaries, and Plantopia — have all been issued letters of non-opposition by town officials, but none have gone on to open their planned facilities. According to the most recent applicant list provided by the Cannabis Control Commission, Plantopia is the only one of these three businesses to have so far applied for a retail sales license with the state.

Northeast Alternatives became not just the city of Fall River’s, but the entire SouthCoast region’s first recreational pot dispensary when it expanded into adult-use sales in January 2019.

Since then, the Fall River dispensary has reported a steady stream of business. The dispensary’s first full month of sales netted roughly $3 million in sales, yielding $88,000 in tax revenues for the city. Northeast Alternatives also made up the bulk of the roughly $2 million in marijuana revenues Fall River received last year from its three dispensaries.

However, the William S. Canning Boulevard facility has not been without its criticisms. A group of city residents living on the two residential streets running behind the dispensary have been a regular fixture at City Council and Traffic Commission meetings in recent months, demanding local officials intervene in the escalating traffic issues they’ve seen in their neighborhood.

Northeast Alternatives’ request for a letter of non-opposition will go back before the Board of Selectmen at the board’s March meeting for further review.