Hatfield Planning Board OKs Outdoor Cannabis Grow, Delays King Street Contractor Permit

HATFIELD -- January 6, 2021, Hatfield Planning Board unanimously approves expanded outdoor cannabis permit and continues contested King Street storage-yard hearing. The board voted to amend an existing special permit for River Valley Growers Inc., adding approximately 20,000 square feet of open-air cultivation to the 100,000-square-foot greenhouse operation already approved at the Venus Road/Basin Road site owned by the Simarowski family. Consultant Chris Chamberlain told the board the change adds flexibility to grow plants outdoors while greenhouse phases are constructed, and that the site's impervious coverage cap prevents any future greenhouse expansion on the same footprint. The board added a condition requiring the applicant to halt work and notify the historical commission if archaeological artifacts are discovered. In a second hearing, neighbors represented by Attorney Andrew Bass of Hadley objected to a special permit sought by Walter Robert Thayer Jr. for contractor storage and vehicle circulation at 82 King Street, with board member Douglas Finn citing missing drainage calculations and inadequate screening documentation; the hearing was continued to February 3 to allow Conservation Commission review of the site's proximity to the Great Pond marsh.