[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, good evening, everyone. Seeing that it is five o'clock, I'd like to welcome everybody to the community outreach meeting hosted by Siri Wellness for the redevelopment and use of 162 Mystic Avenue. My name is John Capano. I'll be moderating tonight's event. The meeting will begin momentarily. However, we're just going to wait a few minutes to allow everyone to join the meeting. All attendees will remain on mute until the Q&A section at the end of the presentation. So we'll reconvene and kind of get the meeting going in a few moments here. But I just wanted to let everyone know that tonight is being recorded and we're going to get started in just a few moments. So thank you. We appreciate your patience. Okay, I'm going to give it another minute here. So to kick off the community outreach mean again, but I just like to welcome everyone again on the behalf of stereo wellness for the redevelopment use of 162 mystic Avenue, we're going to begin the event at about 504. I'm going to give everyone just about one more minute to join. I just want to let everyone know that tonight's meeting is being recorded. Just so everyone is aware of that. Thank you. Okay, seeing as 505, I think we can get started here. So again, good evening and welcome to the community outreach meeting, hosted by CERI Wellness for the Redevelopment and Use of 162 Mystic Avenue. My name is John Capano. I'm an attorney with Smith, Costello and Crawford, and I will be moderating tonight's event. Pursuant to the local planning ordinance and state requirements, including Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 94G, and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, and we'll refer to them tonight as the CCC throughout the presentation. I'm sure of that. Tonight's meeting is being recorded. Video recording of this meeting will be available at www.seriewellness.org backslash MA backslash Medford. At this time, we have 13 attendees in tonight's meeting. Next slide, please. The agenda for our meeting tonight is as follows. First, I'll provide introductions as well as meeting guidelines and information. Then I'll provide an overview of the process for starting a marijuana dispensary in Medford. Next, Area Wellness will provide you with a presentation of their organization and their project. And then we'll have a question and answer period to address any questions you might have here tonight. Next slide, please. In regard to how this meeting will work, If you'd like to ask a question, please use the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen to let us know during the question and answer period. Those of you on the phone can press star 9. Notification is sent to me, and I'll let you know when there's an opportunity for you to speak. You can also use the Q&A feature on Zoom to enter your question at any time. These questions will be answered during the question and answer period. Until the question and answer period, all participants will be on mute. Next slide, please. A few details regarding this meeting are that the notice for this public meeting was published in the Medford Transcript newspaper on July 8, 2021. All abutters within 300 feet of Mystic Avenue have also been sent a meeting notice via certified mail. The city of Medford also advertised this meeting on their city's website. A few quick little notes I'd like to add as well is that the meeting includes closed caption features for anyone that needs it as a part of the state licensing process, we have to abide by the ADA accessibility guidelines. So they are closed caption available to any of those who need it. I believe the feature is found on the bottom of your screen in your zoom menu. The applicant also posted all meeting materials prior to the tonight's meeting at least 24 hours in advance on their website, as you at the website seen on the slide here. And lastly, My role in tonight's meeting is a meeting moderator, because the CCC asks that no one involved with the license or has a direct vested interest in the license be the moderator of the meeting. That's where our firm comes in. We represent 3A Wellness here in Massachusetts, and the CCC has designated us as a neutral party to the meeting, because we have no direct or indirect control of the license. Next slide, please. Okay, great. Before we move into the presentation, we wanted to provide you with a little bit of background on why we're meeting here this evening. In 2016, 57.4% of Medford voters endorsed the ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana. This question also passed at the state level and due to the support of residents of Medford, the city has been working through the rules and regulations surrounding how to implement legal cannabis safely and effectively in Medford. Last year, the City Council passed a comprehensive ordinance to permit up to three recreational marijuana dispensaries in Medford. These are permitted to be located in the C2 zone with various proposing their dispensary as well as the industrial zone. As part of Medford's process, the City established a Cannabis Advisory Committee to recommend to the Mayor's Office which organizations and locations are in the City's best interest to operate a retail marijuana dispensary in the City. Those recommendations will be sent to the Mayor's Office by the end of the summer. We will now begin the presentation by Thierry Wilmes. I'll turn over the presentation to Brandon Pollock, the CEO of Thierry. Brandon, thank you.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Jonathan, and welcome everyone to our community outreach meeting. It is a privilege to be able to discuss our plans with you all this evening, and I very much look forward to the chance to answer your questions and respond to your comments later on in the meeting. As a bit of background, I am one of the founders of Theory Wellness, a local cannabis organization that is headquartered in Stoneham. We were founded in 2015 and our mission is to create the highest quality dispensary experience for our local communities, our customers, and our employees. We have a long and successful track record of operating compliant, safe, and community-centric dispensaries in the Commonwealth, and now employ approximately 300 talented team members here in Massachusetts, providing living wages and a comprehensive benefit package, including a 401k plan. We are well known as one of the most respected cannabis organizations in the state, routinely meeting with a variety of cannabis industry stakeholders and regulators to help improve how legal cannabis works here in Massachusetts. We take our responsibility to operate as industry leaders very seriously and would be honored to bring our world-class operations to Medford. Our first dispensary is a medical only facility that we opened in Bridgewater in 2017. We have since then grown to operate two other dispensaries in Massachusetts, one in Chicopee and one in Great Barrington, both of which serve medical patients and adult use customers. The Great Barrington location was one of the first recreational stores to open in the state, and that was in January of 2019. So this has given us over two years of experience, which is very helpful here in Medford, on how to operate these businesses successfully. Thierry also operates indoor and outdoor cultivation facilities and manufactures a wide variety of products. In sum, we operate 10 different cannabis licenses here in Massachusetts, which is equal or more to any operational experience of any other business in the state. Having at this point served over 1 million different customers in Massachusetts, we look forward to bringing our extensive experience and track record to our South Medford neighborhood. Next slide, please. After that as well, please. So community is very important for us at Theory. And that's one of the unique aspects on how we run our business is our approach to community relations. We believe the relationship begins by being good listeners, understanding the concerns and desires from all the stakeholders in the community. From day one, Theory has listened to and worked closely with our communities to develop positive working relationships that extend from government officials to local businesses, to grassroots organizations, and most importantly, local residents. Theory was one of the first cannabis companies in the state to develop a host community agreement, working with the town of Bridgewater since 2016 to share a portion of our revenue with the town to support their municipal programming. Since then, Theory has contributed over $8 million in direct financial contributions to our host communities. Beyond hiring locally and providing significant economic stimulus, we have focused on building long-term collaborative relationships with municipal governments, as well as local community organizations. We have launched an educational series on cannabis, sponsored numerous charitable events, hosted food and clothing drives, and supported over 20 nonprofits in our local communities. We look forward to continue on this path with our new project here in Medford. Next slide, please. So this slide is an overview of our site plan. We're proposing a marijuana retailer to be located at 162 Mystic Avenue. The site is currently vacant and was previously used as a car dealership. Our proposal is to completely renovate and beautify not just the building, but the entire site. We searched for over a year to find the perfect location for a dispensary and are extremely happy to be proposing a location at 162 Mystic Ave for a variety of reasons, which will be detailed throughout the presentation. These reasons include first and foremost parking. This site includes 59 parking stalls with the site plan that you're looking at right now, which is critical to ensure that no traffic issues arise and that we have no nuisance to our neighborhood. Number two, the details of the site are pretty unique. As shown in the site plan, we have selected a building that has enough space to not just house a dispensary, but also donate 10,000 square feet of space to the arts community, which we will look forward to providing more information on in the upcoming slides. Another key benefit of this proposal is that we are able to develop the dispensary in the rear of the building, ensuring that the dispensary is discreetly featured on Mystic Avenue and not front and center. Earlier this year, we commissioned a poll of over 250 Medford residents, and it was clear that the majority of residents preferred a dispensary to be discreetly cited like this proposal and not prominently on a main road. Next slide, please. In respect to zoning compliance, as Jonathan mentioned earlier, Medford has a zoning ordinance that designates the C2 and industrial zones as the two areas in the city where an adult-use dispensary can operate. This use is subject to obtaining a special permit from the Zoning Board of Affairs, and there are not regulations from the local health board pertaining to dispensaries. That being said, theory has proposed a comprehensive plan to monitor local health impacts and looks forward to working with the Medford Health Department to safely operate our business. Our site at 162 Mystic Ave is in the C2 district and is in full compliance with the city's zoning ordinance. Importantly, we are over 500 feet away from any K through 12 schools, as shown as a diagram here. We have already fully designed our site and construction plans and look forward to working with local builders and contractors when we are ready to construct our facility. Renderings of our exterior and interior are provided on the following slides. Next slide, please. Perfect. So this is the proposed exterior of the dispensary. As you can see, we, you know, are renovating the entire site and really beautifying the exterior of the building. Next slide. The proposed interior rendering is where we create a welcoming, bright, and safe environment for our guests. Next slide. So now we're going to talk about a very interesting partnership we have here with the arts community in Medford. A core value of ours, and one of the primary reasons of our success to date, is our steadfast commitment to contributing in meaningful ways to the communities that we operate in. In Medford, we are extremely excited and fortunate to be proposing a variety of ways in which we will expect to benefit the community. First and foremost, we have established a tremendous partnership with the arts community in Medford. For the last six months, we have had discussions with local leaders in the arts community and learned that despite good efforts and intentions, the arts community in Medford has never been able to find a home. That will all change with Theory Medford. We have committed to donating 10,000 square feet of our building to the Arts Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that will help manage this brand new arts center. In addition to providing the space free of charge, Theory will completely renovate the space to the specifications necessary to provide this community benefit. This will create studio space, meeting space, office space, and performing space for the arts. Our architect has already been working on preliminary floor plans as mentioned on this slide and we couldn't be happier with the partnership and if all goes to plan we would have the community art center up and running in early 2022. Next slide. Theory understands that diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity are necessary foundational pillars in building a strong team that represents the communities we operate in and facilitates the creation of a value-driven organization. Theory also recognizes how the war on drugs disproportionately affected certain communities of color. As leaders in the cannabis industry, we have a real responsibility to lead by example, create positive change, and foster opportunities for generational wealth creation for those who have been negatively affected by the unjust historical policies. To that end, in 2019 theory launched a first of its kind social equity program, providing $250,000 in no strings attached zero interest financing. In addition to resources training and coaching to an economic empowerment applicant who is in the process of launching their own dispensary. After interviewing around a dozen qualified applicants, in July of 2019, Theory selected entrepreneurs Vanessa Jean Baptiste and Mark Bouquet of Legal Greens to be the first participants in our program. Legal Greens is comprised of these two business partners, both Black, one being a woman, who grew up and reside in neighborhoods that were adversely affected by the war on drugs. After nearly two years, in March 2021, Legal Greens opened their recreational dispensary in Brockton, becoming the first Black-owned woman-owned recreational dispensary on the East Coast. We're very proud of the team at Legal Greens and look forward to replicating this program in Medford if we're fortunate enough to continue on with our project here. Additionally, Theory is committed to hiring a diverse workforce in Medford. We truly believe that our people is what allows our company to be most successful and that diversity is an asset to any organization. proven to foster improved decision-making, increased innovation, stronger customer relationships, and increased employee engagement. In Medford, Theory has worked closely with the Mystic branch of the NAACP on a comprehensive diversity hiring plan. We are committed to creating a workforce that is at least 50% women, 35% diverse, and 5% veteran, with this goal extending through all management positions. Theory offers terrific advancement opportunities and goes through great lengths in our recruitment process to ensure we are hiring without bias or discrimination. Next slide, please. A major driver of our positive impact in Medford will be economic. First, we plan on hiring over 60 well-paid full-time individuals with a mandate that the workforce is diverse and local. Specifically, at least 75% of our employees will be Medford residents. All team members are provided comprehensive benefits, which include a 401k plan. We're especially proud to offer this 401k plan, which right now is not very common in the cannabis industry due to the challenges in working with finding a provider for a program like that. As the number one retailer in Massachusetts, we are confident in our projections that each year our Medford dispensary will provide the city with over $2 million in direct cash contributions through both tax revenue and our community host agreement. In addition to the commitments to donate to the arts community, Theory has also allocated $50,000 per year to support local nonprofits. This is consistent with our track record as we have already support dozens of nonprofits throughout the state. Next slide, please. We acknowledge and appreciate that one of the possible negative impacts from an adult use dispensary is localized traffic condition. In order to meet the economic development goals of the city while simultaneously avoiding any traffic congestion problems, an operator must carefully choose a location that is suitable to handle a high volume of customers. There are very few properties within the permitted zones in Medford that provide easy access, have sufficient parking, contain good interior space, and would not materially impact localized traffic. This is something that we took very seriously and we're well qualified to analyze having years of experience citing and operating high traffic retail dispensers. After looking at dozens of options in Medford for our proposed site, we committed to 162 Mystic Avenue based on a number of factors, including and importantly, the site's ability to serve our projected number of customer visits per day from an access parking and favorable traffic impact perspective. Our location is a former car dealership located two minutes off 93 with 59 parking stalls, significantly more than what our projected daily customer visits would demand as further detailed below. By comparison, in Great Barrington and Chicopee, where we also operate recreational dispensaries, our location served between 600 and over 1,000 customers per day on busy days with less parking capacity and have had zero material traffic issues to date. To demonstrate the suitability of our proposed location, Theory engaged a professional traffic engineering and analysis firm to perform a comprehensive traffic study. This 27-page traffic study concluded that our operation of a marijuana retailer at 162 Mystic Avenue would not negatively impact traffic on Mystic Ave. Furthermore, as we have done at our other locations, we will work closely with the Medford Police Department to ensure we have a comprehensive traffic control plan in place, including police details as necessary for the initial opening period. Next slide, please. Our track record and experience showcase that our operational plans and staff training will lead to the safe operations of a marijuana retailer in Medford, including ensuring that diversion and underage sales do not take place at our location. We have served over 1 million customers in Massachusetts without any underage sales. We check identification three times, once at the door, once in the reception room, and again at the sales counter. Furthermore, we use a machine called ID Science that scans each identification for validity. This equipment is also used in casinos and updates itself every 30 days with a comprehensive database of all valid forms of state ID across the country, as well as all passports in the world. By using this machine, we have caught hundreds of expired or invalid forms of identification at our other locations. All of our products are secured in the vault, which has extensive security features. We are also constantly monitoring our parking areas and have a zero tolerance policy for consumption of cannabis on site. Any customers that are found to be consuming on site would be permanently banned from returning to our location. Next slide, please. An important aspect to discuss is the safety and security that will be designed and implemented at our dispensary. It is first helpful to acknowledge and appreciate that Theory has served over a million customers with an excellent safety and security track record. And in our other communities, we maintain direct lines of communication with our local law enforcement partners, whom have written letters of recommendation, calling Theory a model for others to follow. Our comprehensive safety and security plan would first be reviewed with the Medford Police Department prior to being finalized. We always look forward to receiving feedback and improving our plan based on conversations with law enforcement professionals. At all times during operational hours, Theory has a highly trained safety and security team that works both inside and outside the dispensary. They are there to ensure that no prohibited activities take place on our premise. In large part due to our terrific safety and security team, we have not had any nuisance complaints about unsavory customer activity from any of our neighbors at our existing locations. Moreover, the dispensary will be outfitted with an extensive alarm and video monitoring system using the most modern technology available. This technology is a cornerstone of our safety and security plan and allows us to offer both a welcoming and safe environment for our guests and our neighbors. Next slide, please. Theory is committed to leading the cannabis industry by taking meaningful measures towards achieving a more sustainable future, despite the level of short-term investment it may require. Sustainability is a fundamental value at Theory, woven into our decision-making on a daily basis. To date, we have invested millions in energy-reductive technology, effectively offsetting over 2.4 million kilowatts of electricity per year by moving 90% of our cannabis cultivation operations outdoors, and have greened the majority of our energy usage by purchasing over 85% of our energy from renewable sources. Our plan for Medford will push our sustainability actions even further. We have a 79-point sustainability action plan consisting of bold measures, including the installation of 263 solar panels on our roof, pledging to electrify our vehicles, obtaining 100% of our company-wide energy needs from renewables, purchasing carbon offsets, sourcing from and supporting local businesses, installing electric vehicle charging stations, incentivizing public transportation, using sustainable design and building materials, and sponsoring green entrepreneurship in the city of Medford. To hold ourselves accountable, we will establish a director of sustainability and engage with third party consultants to audit our dispensary on a periodic basis. Theory admires and respects the City of Medford's ambitious goals relating to sustainability and energy efficiency and believes our operation will align with and contribute meaningfully towards a shared mission. We look forward to being a corporate steward and a contributing member of the Medford community. Next slide, please. Over the years, Thierry has spent extensive time in the Medford community to understand the concerns and desires of Medford residents and businesses relating to the siting and operation of a marijuana retailer. Thierry undertook an independent survey of over 250 Medford residents and incorporated their feedback into our proposal, ensuring that our location, our charitable initiatives, and our hiring plans serve the community best. Additionally, we have forged a remarkable relationship with local arts community to design, construct, and provide free ongoing use of a 10,000 square foot community center for the arts, a landmark partnership of historic value. Thierry has spoken extensively with hundreds of abutters, local businesses, local leaders, and residents, and received tremendous support, evidenced by the over 60 local letters of support that we've received from a variety of locations as shown in the map on this slide. To ensure our local relationship only continues to strengthen, Thierry will be hiring a full-time director of community relations whose primary responsibility is fostering and strengthening the quality of our relationship with the community. This individual will be based in Medford and will serve as the day-to-day face of Thierry and a conduit for our community relations. This is beyond attending and participating in meetings and community events relating to our business. They'll also be managing our charitable budget for local nonprofits. Next slide, please. So to sum it up, I am confident that Theory is the most qualified applicant to operate in Medford for a couple of reasons. First, we have the experience necessary to ensure our dispensary in Medford will be world-class. We have an industry-leading track record of success and safety at our other operations in Great Barrington, Chicopee, and Bridgewater. We have served over 1 million guests without incident, while maintaining a 99 percentile customer rating. We have become a model company to our regulators, our host communities, and our customers. We have demonstrated that we know exactly how to operate a world-class cannabis dispensary. Second, we have an ambitious, progressive, and well-thought-out plan for positive community impacts here in Medford. We have created an incredible partnership with the arts community to construct and donate a brand new 10,000 square feet center for the arts, a first-of-its-kind program for the city. Moreover, we will be providing over 60 well-paying jobs with full benefits in 401k, supporting local businesses and non-profits, financing local entrepreneurs and social equity applicants, and contributing to the sustainability and diversity goals of the City. From a pure economic perspective, we will contribute over $2 million per year to the city in direct payments, amounts we have shown to provide to our other communities. Third, after years of scouting, we have carefully chosen a location that we believe makes an ideal site for a dispensary from an infrastructure, traffic, and security standpoint. Moreover, our location reflects the desires and priorities of the local community. Our location at 162 Mystic Avenue is discreet, has tremendous parking, is located in a C2 district away from residential, and will be completely revitalized through our site beautification plan. Having been on the forefront of the industry for years, I appreciate the challenges and unknowns that this new type of business can present. With our comprehensive plan for positive impact, industry-leading reputation, and operating experience, I know theory would be the premier choice for the City of Medford. I want to thank you all for your attention so far, and now I'm going to turn it over to Jonathan for the question and answer portion of the meeting. Thank you, and next slide.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brandon. Okay, as a reminder, pursuant to local planning ordinances and state requirements, including Massachusetts General Law Chapter 94G and the CCC regulations, this meeting is a public meeting and is being recorded. I just kind of want to refresh everybody on the meeting guidelines. I will now open up the public comment and Q&A portion of the meeting. I will first be reading the questions and comments we received in advance by residents. Then I'll recognize those questions that have already been posted in the Q&A section. And then finally, we'll open up for general questions and answers. Please use the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen to let us know if you wish to speak. Those of you on the phone, you can press star nine. A notification is sent to me and I'll let you know when it is your turn to go ahead and ask your question or make your comment. You can also use the Q&A icon to enter a question for all the panelists to see. I will then read your question out loud and have our subject matter experts answer that question. Once you're recognized to speak, you can mute or unmute yourself with the radio microphone icon in the Zoom app. If there is a red slash through, if there's a red slash marked through it, your line is muted. So let me go ahead and pull up, I believe we got eight questions and comments in advance. I'm gonna go read through those in the order in which they came in. I'll allow Brandon or whoever the subject matter expert is an opportunity to respond, and then we will move on to the next question in the next section. So this is from May. May, I apologize for mispronouncing your last name, but I think it's Mark Brick. She wrote, dear Theory Wellness, as an advocate of the arts in the city of Medford for more than 30 years and the founder of CATCH, C-A-T-H-E in Medford, I know firsthand how important it is for the arts community to have a home where we can have meetings, offer programs to the general public without charge or minimum fee, and have space for artists, studios, et cetera. Interest in the arts and culture has grown immensely in the past decade, so to have a community center would increase our ability to respond to this trend. In the past five years, art-related programs slash events have grown from 605 events to more than 1,000, an increase of 65%. Your offer for 10,000 square feet of space on Mystic Avenue would be the answer to our needs and dreams. Every town adjacent to our city has a Center for the Arts community, so we wholeheartedly support your application to the City of Medford for establishing an adult use resale business that will include providing Art Collaborative Medford, a nonprofit organization, with a space for a community arts center. Thank you on behalf of many art-related organizations in the community for your proposal in support of the arts. Brandon, I'll allow you an opportunity to kind of make, there's no question there, but kind of make comment on what was submitted from May.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Sure. Thanks, Jonathan. I'll just say thank you, May, for the kind words, and we're very excited to work with you and the arts community on this project. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. OK, the next question is from Pam Shanley. There's there's a handful of questions here, so I'm going to read the general statement made and then will break down each question one by one. It says hi, thank you for doing this here and a couple of questions from Pam, a member of Catch Arts Group in Medford and a resident of Medford. First, what is the potential relationship with the dispensary and the Medford Arts Group? Brandon, if you'd just like to summarize that relationship, I know it was addressed.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, so essentially we would be acting as a landlord where we're providing the space free of charge, as well as constructing the Arts Center to the specifications presented by the Arts Collaborative. We would have no operational control or involvement other than just being a landlord where we're providing free rental to the community.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. The next question here, would they have the freedom to rent out the space for art classes, performances, and parties?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_04]: Who would manage the Medford Art Group or will they have the freedom to do anything within set boundaries? What would these potential boundaries be?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: So I can't speak too much about the management of the Arts Collaborative from our perspective. That is, you know, it's a nonprofit organization that it seems like it's very well managed with a diverse group of people working on that. And from my view, you know, they have the freedom to use the spaces they see as the best use for the community.
[SPEAKER_04]: The next question is short. Will there be Wi-Fi available?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Uh, yeah, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_04]: Um, okay. Last two. What are the hours that the arts, what are the hours that the Medford arts group would have accessibility to the building? Uh, would it be 24 seven?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yep. Yeah. It's a, it's a totally separate space from the dispensary and they would have full control over the, um, the times that they want individuals, you know, accessing the space.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. And then the last question was on parking.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yep, they'll be parking both ADA accessible and conventional parking stalls right in front of the Arts Center.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great, thank you Brandon and thank you Pam for submitting your question. I do see you here on the meeting as well, so I'm happy that we had a chance to answer your question. OK, third question is from Cindy Watson. There's a plethora of research to indicate that the arts are a lifeline, but conversely a death. of space to accommodate the art. Last August, President Biden declared, the future of who we are lies in the art. It is the expression of our soul. This profound statement is a wake-up call for the need to allocate money from the federal budget to fund the arts and culture. I'm just going to read through this, but just for the record, for the Q&A and for the for the opportunity to speak, which I'm gonna try to say a little bit more on topic with Theory Wellness and their involvement in the community. However, I do appreciate the comments made here and this message we received. So, this profound statement is a wake-up call for the need to allocate money for the federal budget to fund arts and culture. Currently, the United States lags greatly behind our European counterparts in the funding for arts. exaggerated this need. Artists from across the world support this notion with one expressing this touching message. What I know about the last 15 months is about outstanding the darkest, to make joy, to make good at every opportunity, to see beauty in every day in the work of the artists who believe will help us find ourselves again. This helps me and maybe you too. I believe art will help us carry our loss when the ocean cannot hold our sorrow. Very nice quote. City wellness should be complimented on their endeavors to collaborate with the arts community in providing much needed space. They recognize the need to champion our cause. It is my hope that this partnership comes to fruition. It will certainly put a smile on everyone's face that is truly, which is truly the universal language. So thank you, Cindy. I'll offer Brandon an opportunity to respond to that as well.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, echo that Jonathan. Thank you. Thank you, Cindy. We appreciate the kind words and also very much look forward to the partnership.
[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, the next question is from Robert Garcia. Balloon boss, I don't know if that's a business name or, or, so forgive me for that. But to whom it may concern, Theory Wellness is one of the most lucrative marijuana companies in Massachusetts. They've been in the business for over four years in Bridgewater, Chicopee and Great Barrington. It would be the best financial cannabis partner for Medford and we taxpayers. As I understand it, they must pay to see 3% of gross profit. No other applicant come close comes close to them. So we can. There's no question there. But again, I'll offer Brandon an opportunity to respond.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, thanks, Jonathan. And I think, yeah, I think it's local business owner. And to clarify from an economic perspective, we're actually going to be sharing 6% of our revenue, not profits, so an even more significant amount of cash with the city, which should help ease the burden on other taxpayers, all else fixed. So we certainly look forward to helping the community in that way.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. OK, so this is from Sylvia Garcia. I, Sylvia Garcia, support theory wellness and its application to cite a cannabis dispensary on mystic app because I saw their plans and the building looks beautiful. I particularly like how the cannabis business is located in the rear of the building away from the street and out of everybody's view, while the front of the building will have a separate use unrelated to marijuana. So, and this comes from Sylvia, who is a Medford resident. I won't put her address out, but she signed as her resident, which we appreciate. So again, Brandon, I'll offer you an opportunity to respond.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: No, we appreciate the comment, Sylvia. Thank you for your support. And we certainly agree that, as you mentioned, when we did a comprehensive poll of Medford residents earlier this year, we heard loud and clear that folks, they do want adult use cannabis, but they want it in a discrete location, which we have the perfect opportunity to provide here. So thank you.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brandon. This is from Melissa Miguel, another Medford resident, I don't want to read out the whole address again. She wrote in city officials, I am writing today to show support of theory wellness and a proposed location on Mystic Avenue in South Medford. As long as a longtime South Medford resident, I am pleased to see a responsible neighbor partner interest and a responsible neighborhood partner interested in doing their business in our neighborhood. They have a great track record in marijuana in Massachusetts and take safety and security very seriously. They provide a 24 hour surveillance of their property while ensuring no infringement on the privacy of the private property in the surrounding area. Medford has done a poor job in attracting businesses to South Medford area and I hope that it's changing with the approval of Dairy Wellness on Mystic Avenue. Again, Brandon, I'll offer you an opportunity to comment.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, no, we appreciate the support, Melissa. We certainly believe and agree with you that our presence at 162 Mystic Ave would increase the overall safety and security of the neighborhood as well as provide new customers to other local businesses that are going to be shopping with us. Certainly those customers will be visiting our neighbors as well. So we think it's a win-win for the business community in South Medford.
[SPEAKER_04]: That's great. Next question is from Jonathan Fagan. He says, hello again. My name is Jonathan Fagan. I'm a board member of CATCH and the founder of Medford Jazz Festival. I want to reiterate my support for Siri Wellness' application ahead of their meeting later today, especially because of their proposed dedication of 10,000 square feet of art space to the community, a new space supporting both the performing and visual arts for pay an enormous role in revitalizing the whole arts community, especially considering the number of venues that have closed in recent months. Storefront on Mystic Avenue would provide a much needed visibility, especially for painters and other artists looking to show their work to the broader community. Keep me posted about the meeting, about how the meeting goes, and let me know what else I can do to help best Johnson.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, no, thanks, Jonathan. We appreciate the kind words and the support and certainly would look forward to the opportunity to provide the space to the arts. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. OK, the last submitted question is from Jessica Rubitico. Sorry if I mispronounced the last name there. I'm very pleased to support theory wellness on Mystic Ave. They have gone above and beyond the call by bringing the arts of Medford to their site fronting Mystic Avenue. The arts in Medford have never had a home and it's about time. Thank you, Siri, we love you. This is from Jessica and she is a Medford resident.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, thanks, Jessica. We very much appreciate the support and would be very pleased and fortunate if we can continue to move forward with the project and get the Arts Center up and running.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great, thank you, Brandon. So that concludes the questions that were submitted in advance. I'm going to now go over to the Q&A section. I just want to note for the record that we have 18 attendees in the meeting right now. So this is from Brenda Bree. Which arts organization in Medford are you partnering with? I think we'll just clarify that again.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, the organization is called the Arts Collaborative. It's a newly formed nonprofit that is My understanding is sort of a collaboration between multiple existing art groups in Medford that are coming together to work together to, you know, help us design the space for the arts community and then would be the ones that are technically subleasing the space from theory free of charge. So the Arts Collaborative is the name of the arts organization that we're working with.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brandon. The next question... Okay, great. Sorry, this is a little new territory here. Danny Leon asks, can Brandon clarify his ownership in Temescal Wellness?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, so I'm guessing this... So I was involved with a company called Temescal Wellness as a nonprofit in the state of New Hampshire. many, many years ago. I have no ownership or involvement or control or knowledge about anything to 10 minutes wellness in Massachusetts. So no, no ownership there.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brandon. Another one from Dan Leon, can you please explain the ownership of Theory Farms?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: So Theory Farms, that was a project that myself and some of the other founders of Theory started several years ago that obtained a provisional license. We never moved forward with the project and actually divested from that license. So I am not aware of the current ownership of Theory Farms, though I believe they've actually, once they acquired the license, changed their name to something else. But we currently have no interest in Theory Farms. OK.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brendan. The last Q&A section is from Brenda Breath. How will parking be shared between the dispensary and the art space? Will some spaces be reserved for each?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, so I think, um, as we finalize our, our site plan and our development plan with the arts collaborative, we can talk more about how we want to run parking. Um, I think generally we'll want to make sure that there is some parking reserved for, um, for the arts collaborative, um, anytime they might, might need it, you know, right in front of the space. And then if they're having larger events, I think we'd want to just have a collaborative relationship with our dispensary management team to make sure that we're prepared to handle. a larger event if it may impact our own operations, we certainly can handle that with how much parking we have on site and can, you know, use levers such as having our staff park across the street for a day or something like that if necessary. But with 59 parking stalls on the site, I'm really confident we're going to have no parking concerns at all and we'll be, you know, really well set up to ensure that everyone can quickly and easily find a place to park.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great. Thank you, Brandon. Seeing no more questions in the Q&A section of the Zoom chat, I'm going to move to those with their hands raised. So I'm going to go to Ken Krause. Ken, we're going to allow you to open up your microphone and video if you so choose. So Ken.
[Krause]: Can you hear me?
[SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Krause]: Okay, thank you. Yeah, Ken Krause. 21-year Medford resident. I've been involved with arts and environmental organizations in particular over that time. Very excited about the prospects of the Arts Center, which has been an ongoing effort by people in the arts community for probably 15 years. The Arts Collaborative Medford has been at it for several years, looking at a couple of venues. So that's very exciting. I'm also pleased with the sustainability emphasis on the property. So I have two questions. The first one, is probably the shorter answer. With regard to building out the property, I didn't see any trees in the brief image that was shown. Trees are greatly lacking along Mystic Avenue in general and I wonder if you have the landscaping plan to the point where you know if there is potential or if you do have plans to add trees to the property.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, thanks, Ken. This is Brandon. I can answer that. First, thank you for your support and respect to the art side of things. Myself and Nick, the founders of Theory, we really do care about sustainability and appreciate the comment regarding tree cover. Our landscaping plan is not finalized, so I certainly can take that into consideration. I think we certainly want to add add that to the landscape. You know, there's a couple caveats. We don't want to be blocking our cameras or things like that from a security perspective, but there's certainly areas of the site that could use some tree cover that should add some shade. So I think that's a great, great point. And the good news is we haven't finalized the landscaping plan. So we certainly can take that into account.
[Krause]: Okay, thank you. My second question is, I've had conversations with people in the recovery community, and they are very interested in being able to comfortably support the Art Center and attend events there, perhaps have a studio there. And their concerns have been related to their confidence that they're gonna be able to comfortably visit a site in such close proximity to the dispensary right behind it. And you said a few things regarding the space as being totally separate, which is important, I think, and also the strict policy about no consumption on site. I wonder if you could just talk a little bit more about how the setup is going to be in terms of the spaces being contiguous and are there shared spaces? Are there separate entrances? Any more detail that would help us understand how the two entities will be functioning but together but separate?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, no, thanks, Ken. That's a very good, a good question. A couple of points there to respond. First, they are totally different spaces and there's actually going to be a small kind of empty storage area, potentially, you know, in between them, but there's absolutely no access from one space to the other. Totally separate entrances as well. Additionally, we, you know, we currently operate dispensaries and have really learned over time how to make sure that our operation operates very discreetly and just like a retail store that a layperson may not even know what exactly we're doing unless they were seeking us out to purchase cannabis. So, for example, there's no odors that are emitted from the store because all of the products are airtight and prepackaged before they arrive at the location. And we don't have, you know, big sample jars open and things like that of cannabis. It's very professional and discreet in that respect. And that also transitions into our site plan. So our exterior of the building is, we're certainly going to be beautifying the site, but we're not making it flash in respect to what we do. There's no cannabis leaves on the exterior. There's no flashing neon signs. It's very professional and discreet. So I definitely understand those concerns, and they're certainly very valid. Most importantly, as we work as partners with the Arts Collaborative, If issues do arise, we're going to be talking very quickly on how to resolve those issues and improve any inconveniences or friction points to make sure that everyone's getting the most they can out of the partnership.
[Krause]: Thank you very much. Good luck.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_04]: All right. I'm going to have May come on. May Mark Breck, and forgive me again for messing up the pronunciation. Hi, Meg.
[May Marquebreuck]: Unmute. Yes, I just want to say thank you very much for having this presentation today. It's been very informative. The question I have is, I wasn't quite sure, where is this, the marijuana plants going to be grown? Is that on site or is that at some off site location?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, that's a good question, May. Thank you for that question. So we're a vertically integrated company, which allows us the benefit of cultivating our own cannabis plants. So we do that in two locations in Massachusetts that are not in Medford. So there'll be no cannabis cultivated in Medford. We cultivate indoors. So indoor agriculture in Bridgewater, and then we have an outdoor cannabis farm in Sheffield out in the Berkshires. So those products are dried, tested, packaged, and then transported to the dispensary for sale, but there's no plants on site.
[May Marquebreuck]: Thank you, Brandon. And I'd just like to say how important this will be for Medford and the arts community to finally have a home.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you. We look forward to it.
[SPEAKER_04]: I'm just going to lower your hand. And if you have another question, feel free to please raise it again. The next question or the next hand raised I see is Laurel S. So I'm going to move you from the unmuted. So Laurel.
[Laurel Siegel]: Hi. So I am Laurel Siegel, and I am the current chair of Arts Collaborative Medford. I'm also the president of CACHE, and I just wanted to sort of speak a little bit to Arts Collaborative, if I may, for a moment. So we are comprised of members of CACHE, the Medford Arts Council, and Arts Medford, as well as other stakeholders in the arts community. And so we're bringing a lot of experience and knowledge of the Medford arts community to the table. And mostly I just wanted to say, take this opportunity to say thank you to Theory for presenting this opportunity. I think this is a tremendous opportunity for the arts community in Medford. And I appreciate the generosity and the professionalism of the proposal that's been presented to us.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Laurel. We appreciate the support and certainly look forward to continuing to work with you and the rest of the team at Arts Collaborative. So thanks again. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Laurel. Sorry, I'm just kind of correcting the center. So Ken has another question. I'm going to allow Ken to come back on. Ken?
[Krause]: Thank you. Yeah, just another question that came to mind. I haven't looked at the traffic study that you referenced. Did that take into account truck traffic to and from the site for both deliveries and anything else that might be leaving the site by truck and will you be shipping from this location or is it an entirely walk-in type of operation?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, sure. Good, definitely good questions, Ken. And just as a reminder to our audience, in general, we do have, or sorry, I should say the City of Medford has posted the full applications of all the candidates for dispensaries in Medford on the city's website, and that would include a copy of our traffic plan. But essentially, The answer regarding transport is that we will only have a delivery vehicle go to Medford a couple times a week. So it's not a material impact on traffic. These are Ford transit vans. They're not 18 wheelers. I wish we were that busy, but we are not that busy. It's just transit vans that transport cannabis once or twice a week. There's no outgoing deliveries from Medford. So it's just incoming deliveries that are done discreetly, not during business hours at randomized times per day. And, you know, therefore, just a couple of van deliveries a week don't have any material impact on traffic.
[Krause]: OK, thank you. And I've tried to download the application, but it's like 108 megabytes. And so it's very exhaustive. It's a little too much for my little computer to handle.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, no, it's pretty extensive. But we've been putting a lot of thought into our proposal. And that's certainly, I guess, one way is reflected in the length of the application.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Ken. I'm just going to clean up the participants link. OK, I don't have any more questions in the Q&A section, nor do I see any more hands raised. So just in time, Danny. Danny Leone, are you an MSO, multi-state operator?
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: So our brand, Theory Wellness, we do operate in the state of Maine as well. However, this proposal from Theory Wellness Incorporated, we are a Massachusetts-based, Massachusetts-only company.
[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, great. It's live. Okay, so I'm also, I'm looking in the Q&A section. I'm also looking in the participants chain for any hands up. I'm not seeing any at the moment. I guess we'll do kind of a last call. There's also contact information if there are any questions that come out. You know, think of anything. I know they've posted an email for them to be reached at, and I'm sure they'd be happy to take up any conversations that come following tonight's meeting. So any last questions or either from those who wishing to speak or those wishing to enter into the chat? Thank you. Got one from Ken. Ken Krause asked, can you tell us what the next step is in the selection process? I imagine that's for Medford, not the state.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Sure, so Medford has a Cannabis Advisory Committee, which is made up of different staff members of the city of Medford. They are currently evaluating proposals and will be essentially choosing three applicants to recommend to the mayor's office for what's called a host community agreement, and that's the next step in the process. Our understanding of what's been discussed so far is that those recommendations will be completed by the end of August, and then the mayor presumably will be entering in the host community agreements right after that. And we can, if we're fortunate enough to be selected, can then apply for our state license, apply for our special permit with the ZBA, and get ready to start construction on the dispensary and the art center.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brandon. All right, I'll keep that kind of last call open and rolling. Ken wrote into the Q&A. Thank you. So I'll kind of keep the last call open for a minute or so if anyone has any more questions. But I think at this time, we just want to thank all of you that have listened, participated, and offered comments or asked questions. This is the type of constructive community dialogue It's so vital to preserve and maintain strength in a community character. We appreciate everyone who took the time to join us. If you do have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact the applicant at the email found on the presentation screen here. It is community at theorywellness.org. I want to do one more check of both the Q&A and the participants link to see if there are any last final questions I'm not seeing here. So again, thank you, Brandon. I'll kick it over to you if you want to kind of close up have the final word.
[4i_C-C_jjiM_SPEAKER_05]: Sure, no thanks Jonathan. Just thank you everybody for your attention and attending the meeting. We very much look forward to the opportunity to be a member here of the community in Medford. We're committed to operating a really world-class dispensary that benefits the community in several important ways. And as Jonathan mentioned, please feel free to reach out if there's anything on your mind. We certainly have an open door policy and look forward to talking and going through any questions folks have on our proposal. And with that, I'll wish everybody a good evening, and thanks again for attending.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, everyone, and have a great night.