BREWSTER–The Brewster Planning Board held a meeting last week to analyze a traffic impact statement submitted by The Haven Center, which is on pace to be the town’s only retail marijuana shop.
The outlet would be located at 4018 Main Street along Route 6A.
Benjamin Zehnder, an attorney representing The Haven Center in the matter, broke down conclusions made after studies of nationally accessible data and observations made at the pot shop in Salem to the board.
The study said The Haven Center is slated to see 223 trip ends–or 112 people–per hour at its peak times. With the average trip to the store taking about 15 minutes to complete, each parking spot would be open four times per hour.
“So, at 112 people per hour, divided by four, you really need 28 parking spaces to comfortably accommodate the coming and going at the peak time. This site has provided 31 spaces,” Zehnder said.
Zehnder also referred to a written agreement made with a property owner near the store to allot 15 spaces for employee parking.
The planning board stressed the importance of making sure that traffic is not a problem in the area surrounding the shop, but Zehnder argued that the property will be prepared to take in an influx of customers.
“We’re not only exceeding the requirements of the policy. We think we’re actually providing sufficient parking to more than accommodate the max use on this property,” he continued.
In addition, Zehnder proposed the idea that the shop only accommodate prior appointments at first, before allowing walk in customers over time.
Brewster officials will be putting out requests for peer review comments before the board hears from The Haven Center again next month.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
