Good afternoon everyone. We're just going to give it a moment to let the waiting room clear. Please make sure you're muted as you enter. All right, we're going to get started. Good afternoon. This is a hearing before the Boston Cannabis Board, the BCB. Today is May 6, 2026. Today's hearing is
being conducted pursuant to temporary amendments to the open meeting law. This is what allows us to meet virtually. This hearing is being recorded and will be posted to the city of Boston's website. Before I review some procedural matters, I will introduce Cher and Kathleen Choice.
Good afternoon. My name is Kathleen Joyce. I'm chair of the Boston Cannabis Board. Today I'm pleased to be joined by Commissioner Lisa Holmes, Commissioner Raone Sodto, Commissioner Sono Gandhi, and that's it. >> Thank you, Chairwoman Joyce. My name is
Jasmine Wyn and I am the Boston Cannabis Board Manager. We are also joined by Luc Santos who is our cannabis licensing specialist. I will begin by calling each item into the order they appear on the agenda. Today we have four amendments to already approved licenses and no new applications being heard today. Each
amendment will have five minutes to present to the BCB followed by questions and comments from the board members. We will then take public testimony beginning with elected officials or their representatives followed by the general public. If you wish to testify, please sign up via the link that we put
in the chat. Additionally, you may use the chat function to request to testify as well. Please wait until the matter in which you would like to speak about is called. Do not use the chat to give testimony. It will not be considered. Please state your full name, address, and any affiliation. Testimony will be
limited to two minutes, at which time you will be muted. Additional testimony may be submitted in writing to cannabis board at boston.gov. The record will be kept open until Monday, May 11th at 5:00 p.m. The BCB does not give any more weight to spoken testimony than it does
written testimony. The first matter we have the license C is Stones Throw Cannabis LLC. Do a business as fire brand cannabis. The license premise is 727 Atlantic Avenue downtown. The license type is a marijuana retailer license. They commenced operations in
May of 2024. They held a community meeting on February 26 26 and they are equity applicant. They requested for a change in operating hours. Their current hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 9:00
p.m. on Sunday. The proposed hours are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday, 7 days a week. Um, who is present on behalf of the Lency? >> Hi, Jasmine. Um, my name is Desiree Franel. I am here on behalf of Firebrand
Cannabis. >> Okay, you have five minutes. You may share your screen and begin. >> Thank you, Jasmine. And thank you, Luke. Um, Trey, are you on and are you able to I'm not sure if Trey Williams has
access. He's my uh partner. >> Um, he should be able to share his screen. I don't think I see him. >> Thank you. >> Uh, yes. Are you able to hear me? >> Yeah, we can hear. >> Okay, great. Give me one second.
Great. Thank you, Trey. Um, just pulling up my notes here. Sorry. All right. Thank you, Jasmine. Um, and thank you, Commissioner Joyce and commissioners of the Boston Cannabis Board for having us here today. My name is Desiree Franel, um, the co-owner of
Firebrand Cannabis. And joining me today are co-owner and CEO Trey Williams, as well as co-owner and general manager, um, Albi Montgomery. Next slide. You look cute. Uh, Firebrand
is located at 727 Atlantic Aross from South Station in the Leather District. We commenced our hours of operation I'm sorry, we commenced our operations in May of 2024. So, we are going on 2 years
um now May 20th. And um we're here today to seek approval from the board to extend our hours of operation from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Uh despite seeking a 7-day approval for these hours, our intentions are to only
open until 11 PM Thursday through Saturday and on a few holidays of the year such as July 4th or New Year's which often fall on a weekday. Next slide. Uh these are some of the neighboring
businesses in the leather district. The letter District is zoned as both residential and uh business. Um some of the uh business hours are listed here and as you can see a lot of the businesses do open later from Thursday
uh through Saturday um in the neighborhood. So our goal is to also align uh with these hours. Thank you. Um, these are some of the downtown
approved hours, downtown dispensary approved hours. Um, much like Apex, who's also approved um, for extended closing hours 7 days a week, we would only open later uh, Thursday through Saturday, our goal is to do so gradually
uh, so that there is not a negative impact on the community and that it is also uh, liable for our business as well. Thank you. Um, and why are we changing our hours? Firebrand is currently turning away customers at and after 9:00
p.m. A significant portion of the customers are commuters passing through South Station between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. who have no opportunity to visit the store within the operating hours. Um, also on Sundays, trains to Gillette
Stadium depart before 11:00 a.m. causing Firebrand to miss an entire wave of event goers who represent a high volume of time-sensitive and cons customer base. Um, extending our hours would bring Firebrand Cannabis in line with neighboring business weekend hours. Um,
ensuring consistency, fairness, and cohesive uh cohesiveness experience for the surrounding commercial district. And our next slide is uh a heat map and I will hand it off to Trey Williams who will um give a little explanation behind
this. All right. Uh this slide shows our actual customer traffic over 113 operating days of year-to- date data. So every solid bordered cell represents real transaction counts average by hour and day of the week. The dashboard of
cells on the edge show our projected traffic under the proposed extended schedule. The brightest cells are Thursday and Friday. Um so Wednesday through Friday afternoon blocks represent our peak hours. Um Thursday at 5:00 p.m. averages
around 48 transactions per hour. Uh which is the busiest hour of our week. Um and and we're attributing some of that to South Station's evening commuter flow which drives which we believe is driving that pattern. What I particularly want to draw the board's attention to is the rightmost solid
columns. 8:00m our last hour of operation. Uh Friday at 8 p.m. still averages around 22 uh transactions per hour. That's not a windown hour. That's like customers arriving right up until our doors close. We're turning away demand at our current 9:00 p.m. close
time. And so the the four dashboard columns 8 uh 8:00 a.m. 9:00 p.m. 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. uh show projected traffic under the proposed 8 a.m. to midnight schedule. And the key takeaway from this is the projected evening hours are not a
flat extension of peak. Each successive hour shows reduced volume. So 9:00 p.m. at 90%, 8:00 p.m. and 10 p.m. at 50% and 11 p.m. at 25%. This is conservative by design. At our peak day, Friday at 11 PM is predicted roughly five to six
transactions per hour, which is modest and manageable and align with comparable downtown retail stores. Um, so the methodology behind this is the projections are coming from absorb observed opening and closing hour patterns at peer dispensaries and our
own ramp up rent down curves. Um, but yeah, uh, I'll hand it back off to, uh, Desi. >> Thank you, Trey. Uh Trey put that graph together and he is our he's our data guy so he was um best to explain that. Thank you for that Trey. Um so moving on to
slide seven. On February 1st we hosted a public meeting with neighbors to come to open up discussions regarding our proposed changes. The community uh did address concerns uh which we listened to very closely and as a result made changes to our proposal. Um these are
some of the changes um listed here. Um and since then we've had just like smaller meetings regarding those same concerns um some steps we've taken um to help address the issues and um
additional feedback regarding signage. Next slide. Um this is some of the community feedback we received last year before uh proposing the the change of ours. Um the concerns are listed here. We quickly
came up with changes to our operations to help rectify some of the concerns. I won't go over them just to keep the presentation to a minimum, but I did submit some additional information to the board this morning. Just a comprehensive outline of the outreach um
that we have undergone. And I'll also show you some pictures coming up in this next slide um of just some of the signage there. There were concerns um of people uh consuming cannabis and and then either
standing in front of stoops or sitting on stoops. Um so we've um we've added additional signage inside the store as well as outside the store. We've also trained our staff who who have done a very well job at informing customers
that public consumption is not allowed and they are not allowed to smoke in the neighborhood otherwise they will be banned. And we'll move on to the next slide. Thank you. Um and then lastly like so a security plan that we've sort of come up
with um to help mitigate some of the concerns uh while we extend our hours are hiring a security guard. Um, we want to make sure that we maintain a safe environment, not just for the neighborhood, but our employees and customers as well. Uh, so we will be
hiring a security guard to come in between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. We also added exterior uh footage uh for our greeter who is inside the store to monitor for coverage. So if needed, the
the greeter will come outside and ensure that no one is loitering um after they come in and purchase their products. Um and that's going to be it for our presentation. We are happy to answer questions or provide additional
information if needed. >> Thank you, Ch. >> Thank you, Desiree. Um we'll begin with questions and comments from the board members beginning with Chairwoman Joyce. >> Thanks. I'm just going to put this out there that we've received a lot of opposition to this request and a very
thorough timeline about um concerns that have been raised by the trustees and the neighbors in your response. So, would you please describe for the board how the public meeting how the public process went and um tell us a little bit more about that?
>> Yes. So, we began the community outreach. I'm just going to pull up all some documents that I have here. We began the community outreach in January. On January 20th, we met with the Chinatown um neighborhood council. Um on
February 1st, we hosted our own personal uh meeting. It was not the city meeting. Um, in my community process, I like to go above and beyond and ensure that I'm having um enough dialogue with um with
the neighbors before the actual city meeting because I mean, as we all know, and I'm sure you guys would agree that one meeting is sometimes not enough. Um, and so on February 1st, we held a meeting. On February 4th, we met again
with the Chinatown Safety Meeting. On February 13th, we had a smaller meeting with some of the trustees of 717 Atlantic AB. On April 17th, we um sent
out just uh proposed amendments um to trustees at 134 Beach Street. On February 20th, we met again with the trustees at 717 Atlantic regarding signage as well as some window signage
um concerns that they had. And then on February 26, we had the city of Butters meeting. And by that time, we had significantly changed our proposal to address some of their concerns. And the biggest one for us is reducing the closing time from 12:00 a.m. to 11:00
p.m. as well as hiring a security personnel uh to ensure that you know that corner no one's smoking out there and there are no issues. Um we've also emailed um counselor Flynn um starting
you know since January. We've not heard from him um but we are happy to also meet with him if he were to allow us the opportunity. Okay. Um, I might have other questions, but um, >> thank you. >> Commissioner Holmes, do you have any
questions? >> I do. It's just a clarification. So, are you only asking to extend the hours on Thursday through Sun Sunday um or and not seven days a week? >> So, that's a really good question. Thank
you for asking that, Commissioner Lisa. Um, so we're asking for to to have those hours approved 7 days, but we are only opening until 11:00 p.m. from Thursday through Saturday. And the reason is that there are some holidays throughout the
year that land on a Wednesday or a Tuesday. And we'd like to open a little bit later on those days. Um, and I'll just give you a quick example. I think last year on New Year's, uh, landed on a Wednesday. um if July 4th lands on a Monday, we'd like to probably stay open
an extra hour or so. So, that is the reason for the ask. I believe uh Apex was approved uh for the seven days and sort of does um goes by the same practice. I hope that answers your question. >> So, you want to you want the extension
for the seven days, but you're going to base if you actually use those hours on usage. Yeah, we only want Yeah, we only want to open between Thursday and Saturday because those times are busy. If we're,
you know, we don't we do not plan on opening on a Wednesday till 11:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. We don't think we need that. Are we have enough data to prove that we don't um but again like New Year's last year was on a Wednesday. Uh we had fireworks going on over at Boston
Common and we had a lot of people calling um hoping to come in before we closed and were not able to make it as well as like July 4th and um those type of days. And we're also happy to, you know, inform the neighborhood and and
have a meeting or, you know, whatever we need to do to sort of give them a heads up like, hey, uh July 4th is coming up or New Year's is coming up. It's going to be on a Tuesday. we do want to open a little bit later and we're happy to have dialogue and give proper notice um to to
the neighbors um letting them know if we want to open a little bit later on, you know, on a specific holiday. >> Okay. So why not just amend the license for Thursday through Saturday and then do like like you're saying if a Wednesday holiday comes up and just
putting in for an additional that day you know extension for your hours on that day instead of having a blanket and then say like you're saying you don't need to be open on 11 on till 11 on a Tuesday but your schedule says you're
open till 11 and somebody comes by and you're not Right. Well, I think what we were trying to mimic was more I, you know, I try to go a lot based off like the history of what the board has approved in the past and we know that. >> But wouldn't it be easier to go by
what's good for you and not mimicking what somebody else gets because what somebody else gets isn't good for your business. >> That makes sense. >> I mean, I see you I see your point with the Thursday. You know, I get all that, but >> my thing is why
>> ask for it on days you don't need it, you know, and then have have your business say you're open and then people come by and you're not because you don't have no business coming in. And I get that. I mean, some days are busier than others. >> I hear you. Thank you. I'm going to
actually defer that answer to our general manager who's actually here today. His name is Albi Montgomery. Albby, are you there? >> Yes, I am. Thank you, Des. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Holmes. I appreciate you um for taking this taking this meeting today and the
rest of the board. Thank you. Um so, one part I would say is right now we actually close at 8:45 due to our time being 900 p.m. So once 9:00 p.m. hits, we technically can't service anyone else. So, we're actually closing 15 minutes earlier. So the 11 o'clock
actually gives us that buffer saying, "Okay, we do close at 11, but at least we can service people, you know, who are actually in the store at 9:00. We can still service them at this point." >> We are approved to 11. Sorry, but you mean we're approved to 11, but >> approved to 11. At least on those days,
we could still service, you know, our customers, you know, after 900 p.m. because they're in the store. Right now, we're turning people away sometimes. Hey, we got three people in line. Right now it's 8:45. we just can't allow you to come in because we don't want to say no, we can't service you after you come
in and we don't want to do anything to hurt our license at all. >> Okay, that I understand that. Okay. I was just saying why, you know, I didn't want your customers to be if you're like a Tuesday and you don't have a lot of business and you decide to close a little early and somebody runs down at
like 10:45. But I get I get your point there too, the explanation. I get it. And and just to add to that, um you know, the regulations are like sometimes someone will come in at let's say, you know, the reason why we try to have the doors closed at 8:45 is because if we we
leave them open until 8:55 and you have a customer that comes in and they don't know what they want. Some customers are very quick. They're in and out in 2 minutes. Some customers have questions. And so if it passes that nine o'clock time mark, we technically, you know, due to the regulations are not
allowed to see them. >> And that makes sense. Okay. So that was a great explanation. Thank you all. I didn't mean to pull that out. >> We're here to answer questions. Thank you. >> You Commissioner Sto, do you have any questions?
>> Thank you. Um, I did want to just get a better understanding of the timing and and type typography of the area establishments in the vicinity like directly abuing
you. I know I did see something I think. Um, but if you could maybe just give me a little bit more specificity about like your next door neighbors uh and their timing and and use or products they sell.
>> Sure. Um, should have probably included like a map showing the hours, but I'm happy to submit that as well and go over it now with you. So, right across from us, we have uh SJS. They just opened. They're only open till 900 p.m. The Leather District is very small. Um,
right around the corner, uh, I would say maybe 150 ft. Uh, we have Tro. They're open later until, I believe, midnight or 1:00 on the weekends. Um, uh, another 100 ft away is the Corner
Pub. I believe they're open till midnight on the weekends. And then we also have, um, the South Street Diner. However, they are open 24 hours. Um, so, you know, that's pretty much uh it's not
a big neighborhood. Um, there aren't there weren't many businesses. We're starting to see more businesses in the neighborhood. Um, but everything is around like all of the neighboring businesses, I would say, are within the 300 ft of our store. And I'm happy to
provide a map after uh the meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner Gandhi, do you have any questions? >> Um, I do appreciate receiving community support letters of this meeting. Um I I
guess my question is to do with the support letters that have been received and how much of the folks that have been have submitted are actual residents and and how much of them are actual business neighboring businesses. Some of the addresses I noticed are not exactly in
the vicinity of the business. So I'm just trying to make sure that we've got a um you know accurate >> Yeah, that that's a good question. Sorry, you are skipping a little bit, but I believe I did hear your question.
Um, I submitted those this morning. I believe we have like 33. Um, I want to say we have maybe, and please don't hold me on this, but maybe 10, 15 that are uh direct Butters. Um, and then we have a
lot of the businesses in the area supporting us. And then there are some support signatures that come from a little bit outside of the leather district. So the leather district is very small and then you have Chinatown and uh Seapport 4 point area. Um so I
want to say maybe 40 to 50% of them are directed butters and we are um continuing to gather signatures. So you you guys should be seeing more from us um up until the voting um hearing. >> Right. I just want to make sure we're
we're getting an accurate understanding of, you know, support letters are coming that are coming from people who are directly impacted. I noticed that's one there's one whose address is in Cambridge, right? So, I'm just I'm just trying to make sure we've got a really accurate understanding of of this. Um, also I noticed some of the support
letters um are supporting operations from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. >> Um, and there's others that are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Um, you know, I think it'd be helpful to kind of ensure that we've gotten some a summary of uh along with the map that you've offered to
provide um kind of, you know, where these support letters or letters of support are coming from and how much of them are directly impacted as residents and how much of them are uh neighboring businesses. I think will be super helpful. >> Yeah, I would be happy to submit a map
with uh the support signatures. The Cambridge one must have slid in there. I try to in my outreach I always try to keep um the signatures within the abuing area as I understand those are uh
significantly worth um more and and um as far as the difference. So initially we went we tried to change our hours to 12:00 a.m. and we had some people support that uh but since the community expressed concerns we did
change that. So, those uh those support forms that have the 12 a.m. closing time are just some of the initial support forms. >> Y, >> but we're >> happy to submit the the maps um a map
with the you know like just dots showing where the signatures are coming from within the neighborhood. But we do have a lot of um of our support as well. >> Thank you. >> And I was also going to ask the same question that Commissioner Holmes asked. So, that that's been asked, so I will um I'll seed my time. Thanks so much.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. >> Um any other follow-up questions from the commissioners. >> All right, seeing none, we'll move to public testimony beginning with elected officials or their representatives. Hello, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Eva Jones representing
the mayor's office and neighborhood services regarding 727 Atlantic A. Our office would like to go on record in opposition to the proposal. A community process was conducted, including an abuters meeting held on 22626 that was well attended by several leather district community members. The
feedback from this meeting was primarily in opposition to the proposal where many community members felt that the business extension of hours would exacerbate the issues already impacting them, such as public smoking in their primarily residential neighborhood. Community members felt that extending these hours would worsen the problems they are
already trying to manage with the applicant and believe that this is not the right decision for the leather district. There were other members of the community in the meeting who expressed support for the proposal but also felt that the applicant needed to do more to gain the community's trust. The applicant has worked with the community to increase signage in their
business, worked with South Station to move their smoking area, and train their employees to inform customers that smoking is not allowed in public. Additionally, we have received 15 letters in opposition, all of which were from residents in the neighborhood opposed to the proposal, expressing many of the same concerns raised in the
Abutters meeting, and many included pictures of people smoking in the neighborhood that they were concerned would worsen without continued effort from the applicant. The proposal was also reviewed by both of the civic associations in the area, 1LD and LDNA, both of which are in opposition and have
submitted letters to the board. At this time, the mayor's office of neighborhood services and our office would like to go in record in opposition to the proposal and feel that this proposal could work with continued communication and collaboration with the community. Thank you everyone for your time and consideration.
>> Thank you, Ava. Um Ashley from Council Flynn's office. >> Good afternoon. My name is Ashley from Councelor Flynn's office. Councelor Flynn would like to go on record in opposition due to feedback from neighbors in reports of increased public cannabis consumption since fire branch's opening, including smoke entering
apartments and trash on nearby sidewalks. The proposed 8 a.m. opening and 11 p.m. closing would set a concerning example and further worsen existing public health, safety, and quality of life issues. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Ashley. Are there any other elected officials or their representatives? All right, we'll move to those that signed up. Um Luke will go through those names. >> Okay, thank you, Jasmine. And just a reminder that you have two minutes to give your testimony and to please state
your name and address when called upon. Uh first we have Jason Dutton. Okay, moving on to Averil Carmine. Yes. Hi. >> Uh, thank you. I'll try to Can you hear me? >> Yes, you can give your testimony.
>> Perfect. Uh, 102 South Street, uh, Leather District, uh, board member of 1LD. Um, and, um, wow, I'll try to make this quick in two minutes, but um, first I do want to say that I don't know why Chinatown is being brought into this
conversation. Chinatown um is further away. Uh we are Leather District. Yes, Desiree repeated that we are a small neighborhood, but we are a small residential neighborhood
um and we care about our neighborhood very much and we have been in constant contact with um Councelor Flynn about um our you know quality of life and how we've been working really hard to get it
back to at least where it was um before mass and cast tents were taken down. There was an uptick of people shooting up, open use, um unhoused, um and then all of a sudden Fire Brand shows up. Um we were more than help
happy to work with them. Uh we are always welcome for other businesses to come into our neighborhood, but once they did, they just saturated our neighborhood. Um there are signs for Firebrand on all of our trash cans. They have a huge sign um at their business.
Um now recently there's been flyers everywhere. Um I've been picking them up around the neighborhood because they've been putting them on people's cars. Um I understand that this is a business that they are trying to
get more customers. Um but the neighbor the the businesses that they uh labeled those are restaurants. Um, yes, they serve alcohol, but you don't take that alcohol with you outside to then consume it on uh doorsteps and walk around the
neighborhood uh where there's a splashback of your consumption. Um, I have myself experienced it where I'm walking by Firebrand and people are just smoking outside and then I notice people pushing their baby carts um in the other
direction and I have to turn around to be a Karen and say, "Listen, you you guys, there's a there's a child coming by. Can you not smoke right there?" And then I just sometimes I get push back where it's like, "Nah, we don't need to listen to the sign or you don't need to listen to her." Um, you know, yes, we're
a small neighborhood, but we are the leather district. We want that to be reverberating. >> That is your two minutes. Sorry. >> Okay. Uh, next up we have Karen Johnson.
>> Good afternoon. I am the president of 1LD, which is one of the neighborhood associations that is testifying um this this afternoon. I'm a resident of 210 uh Lincoln Street. I am in I am strongly
opposed to this the proposed extension of these hours. Um many of the many of the reasons that um Averil gave I will will agree with and underscore. Um, but I'd like to I'd like to take a step back
and and remind the commission um or maybe help educate the commission of the historical relationship that we have had with this business. Uh, this business presented a a plan to our neighborhood uh which was opposed in in the beginning. Uh and they have never
fulfilled any of the promises that they have made uh with respect to um with respect to this good neighbor policy uh and and and good business policy that um that was uh initially presented when
Firebrand um you know decided to open a dispensary in a predominantly residential neighborhood. So I'll start with that. Um the quality of life issue is is tremendous. Um our quality of life uh through smoking um through the
consumption the public consumption of cannabis um has has worsened. Uh the idea of of of having a security guard is something that was presented to the neighborhood initially. That has never happened. And so we feel that we feel
that a lot of the of the proposals and I would even call it rhetoric that this business has presented to our neighborhood has never materialized and and and and there is not a there is not a commitment to being a good business um
within our neighborhood. I would also agree that uh with Averil that the idea of comparing a cannabis dispensary to a restaurant or to restaurants that are in the neighborhood is a poor comparison.
Uh so I would like to go on record as being opposed to the the proposed extension of of uh of of of these business hours because this current business uh cannot operate in the way that they had promised uh using within
the business hours that they that they are currently uh licensed to operate. Thank you. Right. >> Thank you. Uh next is Denise Ayala. Uh, hi. Can you hear me? >> Yep. >> Hi. Thanks. Yes. My name is Denise Yala
and I am a resident at 315A Street. I'm also employed at 280 Conger Street directly across from Firebrand. Um, and I would like to go on the record in support of the extension of ours. I don't think it's going to be any different than it is now. And I do foresee that it would be a good thing
for the neighborhood. And um and so I just want to on the record to say that I support the extension of ours. >> Okay. Thank you. And we have Heidi Omera. >> Hi everyone. Thank you so much for
giving me this opportunity to to speak. Uh I am Heidi Omera. I live at 134 Beach Street in the Leather District. Uh I am a direct abutter. Our building is a direct abuter to Firebrand Cannabis. Uh
I will echo that the leather district is mainly a residential area. Um the signage that has been placed I feel is is not working. People are still smoking pot. Um we had an issue actually just
this morning uh with people smoking pot. Um, I will say that Firebrand put forth this nuisance mitigation plan uh when they put forth their initial proposal which is what Karen had talked about. Also, I
am a member of the board of 1LD. Um, and subsequently, Firebrand Cannabis said that they were not going to honor their nuisance mitigation plan because no other business was doing it and they were not going to be following through on that. Um, I will also say that in the
proposal that was put forth or the I'm sorry, the presentation that was put forth today, um, it was mentioned that there are monthly meetings with the neighborhood. There there's no monthly meeting with the leather district. That is that is not occurring. Uh the last time uh we did have that meeting that
Eva coordinated I believe that was the end of February and then uh we were there was supposed to be a hearing in March. Firebrand withdrew their proposal in March because they said they wanted to you know redouble their efforts and address the neighborhood concerns but
they they never reached out to our building in all of that time. Uh, so I I wasn't even sure if this was going to be happening in May because we never heard anything from them um about what their plan was, what they proposed to do. Um, so it was it's concerning. I I will
agree with Aval that they have an outsized presence in the neighborhood um with their signage with uh confronting their customers who are sitting on soups who are smoking pot. Um, it's uncomfortable to walk outside of my
building and encounter individuals smoking pot on my stoop. I have to ask them to move and I can get some serious push back or I've actually had to call 911 a few times. Um, people don't like to be told what to do. They certainly don't want to be told to move. Um, but
it is private property and there's no trespassing. And also we have seniors in my building. We have a newborn in my building. Um, all through the fall and winter and spring, we had a pregnant woman and the smoke just was right into
our >> Heidi, that is your two minutes. Um, Luke, I believe someone just Gavin Nathan. >> Gavin Nathan. >> Is there a Gavin Nathan? >> All right. Yes, I'm here. Yeah. Yeah.
>> So, yeah, I'm a resident in the neighborhood and based on uh uh Beach Street and um I just want to remind folks that CVS closes CVS dispenses drugs and they close at 8:00 p.m. Fire Brand has flooded our neighborhood
with drug signage, drug paraphernalia, and drug users. This is a residential neighborhood. Thank you. >> Right. Thank you. That is it, Jasmine, for signups.
>> Is there anyone else that would like to provide testimony on this matter? Roger Berman, you can you just have to unmute yourself. >> Thank you. uh commissioner. Uh I am not a resident of the Leather District, but I'm a lifelong
uh commercial property owner in the neighborhood. I currently own two buildings. One at 179 South Street, one at 186 South Street, which is a half a block. Both of these buildings are half a block away. 186 South Street also
faces Atlantic Avenue, 753 Atlantic Avenue. We have encouraged the residential usage in this neighborhood as commercial property owners. Uh we've worked with both
neighborhood associations. There are street cleanups uh that are financed by contributions because the city has not maintained the level of cleanliness of the streets.
There are 1LD has worked on tree plantings. The mayor's office has recently uh recognized the importance of trees to the neighborhood. Um while I did oppose the original uh placement of
this uh cannabis business, um I have not heard anybody who opposes uh the sale of cannabis or directly opposes the business itself. But I would agree with some of the prior speakers
that what was originally put forth as a plan has not been followed through on completely. That it is a nuisance to the neighborhood and it is primarily a residential neighborhood. Although we own commercial property, people live
here. We rent space to businesses who have people and we're very pe employees. We're very cognizant of their safety, of the quality of life in the neighborhood because that helps our ability to rent
to others. Uh, South Station is a two-edged sword and to have the applicant focus on serving the needs of commuters or those using the the transit uh facility which is not in the Leather District. It's on the other side of
Atlantic Avenue. It minimizes the impact to the residents and the residential quality of life. Uh the restaurants that are here have been good neighbors. They're as a prior uh comment I don't know if it was from
Heidi or from uh Karen that they do police their people. Their people their customers do not take their products off site. That is inherently a difference here. So that is a comparison I do not
think is Germaine. Uh >> Roger, that is your two minutes. Is there anyone else that would like to provide testimony on this matter? All right. Any follow-up questions from the board? All right. We'll take this matter under
advisement. Thank you. >> Um I just um this is Albi. Is there any way for me to make just one statement? >> Sure. >> All right. um the mayor's office, they um the licensing board, they came out on March 27, 26, 2026. Um and they came out
basically because they were called by the residents. Um and I have a polic I have a written notice that there were no violations, no one was smoking, nothing was done wrong. They could see that, you know, what was going on outside from inside the store. So I would be happy to share this with Desiree so she can send
this to you. And we are actually 18 steps away from South Station which sees 90,000 people a day. So we're not we are in the neighborhood but we're in a commuter hub as well. So that's all I would like to say. Thank you. >> And please forward that report because I don't know what you mean by licensing
board came out. >> All right. >> Can you clarify that just because >> So it's the license premises inspection notice. >> Oh the licensed premise unit. >> Yes. Yes. So, they came in um when they got a call from the the neighbors and
they came in. There was no violations. There was nothing to write up, but um he let me take a picture of the um the copy and I'll share that picture with you through Desireette. >> Got it. Thank you. I'm sorry. >> Thank you, >> Jasmine. I think we have one more person. >> Oh, wait. Where
>> raising his hand? Jonathan Conair. >> Yeah. Good afternoon, everyone. I just wanted to uh make a very brief comment. I have lived in the Leather District for almost 30 years. I've been a resident at 717 Atlantic Avenue for 28 years, almost
28 years. This building is a direct abutter to 727 Atlantic Avenue where Firebrand is located. We have uh been sensitive to the fact that Firebrand is trying to grow their business and and be a good neighbor. we submitted as
trustees of the building. I'm one of the trustees here as well submitted a letter and it to you expressing our concerns about this proposal. I want to make one specific point though regarding this uh
issue about South Station and commuter traffic. The Leather District stands in many ways as the gateway to Boston for people who are coming through the bus station and South Station with the development of the
South Station Tower project and the refurbishment of the South Station Transportation Center. This is a gateway. The Leather District is a gateway for the city of Boston. And as such, I think we should all be mindful about what kind of a experience we want
people who both live in and around the city and who are visiting Boston for the first time to have. And it's not, in my opinion, speaking strictly as a resident of the neighborhood and a longtime resident of the neighborhood, it's not
been helpful or constructive for uh the impression or the uh marketing or the uh perception of Boston as a welcoming place to have the one of the first
experiences that you you have when you get off the train or the bus to be confronted with people, you know, hanging around the front of a building that's he very heavily signed and and smoking cannabis. And while uh I'm sensitive to uh I think Alb's comment
about the fact that they recently had someone come and and not find that being a concern, it is an ongoing issue with all of us who live in in the neighborhood. And it's become, you know, very problematic for those of us who are
are residents here. I think the commission should think carefully about uh the sighting of of the business and and while it's beneficial to Firebrand to be able to serve those uh those commuters and those people passing
through South Station, they have many hours where they they are open now during the week when they they can serve those customers. And thank you. >> Thank you, Jonathan. Is there anyone else that would like to provide testimony?
>> Look, I don't see any hands. All right. The board will take this matter under advisement. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. We're going to move on to our next item. The lency is 617 Therapeutic
Healthcare, Inc. doing business as 617 THC. The license premise is 144 Bogan Street in Dorchester. The license type is a marijuana retailer license. They commenced operations in July of 2023. They held a community meeting on March
3rd, 2026. This is a non-equity applicant. Their current operating hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Their proposed hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Who is present on behalf of the Lency?
I think I just saw Bill, but I lost him. >> Ah, there I go. I've turned on my uh audio. Can you hear me? >> We can hear you. Do you have video function or >> I do. Oh, I just turned it. There we go. Hello. >> Hello.
>> Uh, good morning or good afternoon everyone. Thank you very much for the opportunity, Jasmine, and thank you, Chairwoman Joyce, and all the commissioners and every other attendee. Uh we have a similar request to the prior uh presenter, but we have a much
different situation in terms of our neighborhood acceptance. Uh the first thing I'd like to do is share my screen. I'm not sure how to do that. Let's see. Share. One second, please. All right. Can everyone see the uh onepage presentation? >> Yep.
>> Great. So, for background, as mentioned, we've been operating continuously for nearly 3 years in the heart of Dorchester at the corner of Bowden Street and Geneva Avenue. Uh, our hours are currently 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Uh, originally when we first were licensed
by the city and state, we were open uh, shorter hours. We were only open until 8:00 p.m. and we were uh, constrained even further until only 6:00 p.m. on weekends. Uh, we successfully petitioned this uh, commission to extend our hours
from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. about a year and a half ago, and that's gone very smoothly. Uh and in fact we continue to see a buildup of customers in the later evening hours that suggests to us that our community would be better served by
being open longer. Like the previous uh presenter, uh we are looking for 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. And this is based on quite frankly data that doesn't give us
uh a clear picture as to when our busiest time is going to be. Sometimes Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays have very low volume. Other times we'll get a rush on Monday night uh just because the payday was that day. We're we don't really know exactly what what the
drivers are of some of our hour flows, but we know that we are cutting our business closed when we have still have strong demand in the evenings. Uh in support of this effort, we collected signatures in our store from our customers uh in support of this and got
hundreds of uh petition signings uh in support of this move. Um we have had uh an several of Butters uh opportunities to communicate this change including a public meeting where there were where there was no feedback whatsoever. Nobody
attended other than myself and the and the uh Butters uh team and uh we've gotten full support from the Bowden Geneva Main Streets organization including a letter of support that I've
shared with the commission uh and uh we plan to enact these immediately like the prior presenter initially our gut is telling us that Wednesday or maybe Thursday through Saturday are going to be extended in the evenings, the
mornings, Monday through Friday. Absolutely. For people on their way to work, we always have a rush at exactly 9:00 a.m. for people who are on their way to work and want to stop in and make a purchase before work. Um, so we want to be able to support those people. uh
and we have not heard or seen any controversy whatsoever from any uh community member or other uh stakeholder that we've reached out to and communicated with about this proposed change and that is the summation of my
proposal. Very straightforward. >> Thank you, Bill. We'll move to comments and questions from the commission beginning with Chairwoman and Katherine Joyce. Thank you. I may have questions after the public testimony, but I don't right now.
>> Commissioner Holmes, >> I have no questions right now. Thank you. >> Second, Commissioner Sto. >> Uh curious about the engagement the local electeds um and any conversations
there. Uh we have not had discussion with our city councelor. That is um a gap for sure. Uh but that's the facts. >> Okay. And and maybe and with the local state rep. >> Neither.
>> Neither. No. >> Okay. Just something to maybe just to pin that. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm taking a note. >> Okay. That that was my only question. Jasine. >> Thank you, Commissioner Gandhi.
I'll come back to Commissioner Gandhi. Commissioner Kinsley, >> thank you. Jasmine, um, how many employees do you have currently? >> 13. >> 13. And so would you, uh, what what's the full-time part-time split among those?
>> It's about 80% full-time, 20% part-time. We have a couple of receptionists who just work weekends. Uh we have pulled our staff for interest in extended hours support. We're also in the midst of looking to hire two to three more associates to allow for flexibility in
scheduling. Uh but we've had we've had positive response from our staff that they're, you know, willing to work those hours. So, you you had planned to, you know, meet the added hours by both extending hours for your current staff and hiring more on?
>> Yes, sir. >> Okay, that's my only question. Thank you. >> Yep. And all the employees, by the way, are neighborhood residents. They all live within uh a mile of the store. So, >> that's great. >> Yeah. >> All right. I'll go back to Commissioner
Gandhi. >> Yes. Hi. Thanks uh so much Jasmine and I apologies for dropping off. Um I I have a similar question to Commissioner Kinsley. Um the one of my concern is we want to make sure that businesses are not inadvertently spending too much and
and risking their revenue models. So as long as you are well aware of any additional costs with um additional hours and those have been factored into your into your business plan. Um I think that would be my only question. >> Yes ma'am. And in fact, uh, being that
we're so data driven, while we are requesting the flexibility to be open from 11, I'm sorry, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week, our data will show us when it is uh, feasible for us to make a profit during an hour. If
we're only getting two customers an hour or five customers an hour, we will probably uh, constrain our hours uh, publicly and and with alerts. uh and formally uh at that time. But initially,
I believe that we'll probably test uh Monday through Friday opening at 8:00 a.m. with the weekends opening at 9:00 and then uh probably Wednesday through Saturday till 11:00 p.m. We might do seven days a week till 11:00 p.m. just to test how the neighborhood and
community reacts to that as far as their interest in coming in and making purchases in those hours. and that'll help guide our decision- making as to where we'll land for the long term. >> Thank you. Super help. Yes. >> Thank you. Um, Bill, can you submit
those signatures, too? I just looked. I don't see I don't believe we received. >> Absolutely. I'll send them to Jasmine uh as soon as this call is over, if not during. >> Thank you. We will now move to public testimony beginning with elected
officials or their representatives. Madame Chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I am the Doorchester community engagement specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has completed an AB buters meeting. With no abutters present, no issues or concerns were raised. At this time, the mayor's
office of neighborhood services would like to ask the board to defer judgment until the proponent has had time to meet with the civic association, which would fully complete the community process. Thank you for your time. Uh as as feedback to that, uh we have met with the community relations folks
at the Bowden Geneva Main Street organization and we have a letter from them in support. >> Okay. Now, if you could submit that to our office, uh that would suffice. >> You got it, Jeremy. >> Um are there any other elected officials
or representatives that would like to speak? >> All right. Luke, did anyone sign up to speak? >> Uh, not on this matter. No. >> All right. Would is there anyone that would like to provide testimony? >> Commissioner Sto,
>> uh, just a follow-up question um, in regards to the letter of support. Was that specifically with respect to the extension of ours? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. So, that that was the that was the substance of that conversation, just to
be clear. Okay, sir. All right. Thank you. That was it, Jasmine. Thank you. Yeah. >> And just to confirm, I'm looking at it now. It is from Bing Neighbor Main Streets, and it's for extension of hours 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. That was in the packet. My bad. >> That's okay. >> I I missed that one. >> Can't catch them all. All right. Thank you. >> Um, is there anyone else that would like to provide testimony on this matter? All right, seeing no one, the board will
take this matter under advisement. Thank you, Bill. >> Thank you everyone for your time. >> We will move to our next matter. The lency is Silver Therapeutics, Inc. doing business as City Farm. The license premise is 717 to 721 American Legion
Highway in Rosendale. The license type is a marijuana retail license. They commenced operations of in July of 2024. This is a non-equity applicant. They held a community meeting on March 30th, 2026. And they're requesting two things. They're requesting to amend their
license to allow for delivery of recreational cannabis through a licensed marijuana courier. And they are also seeking an amendment to their hours. Their current hours are 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 7 days a week. The proposed hours are 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday
through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. who is present on behalf of the lency. >> Hi Jasmine, this is Mike Ross here. Uh hope you're well. Uh hello Madam Chair, members of the commission. Good to see you. Um this is uh I'm here on two
matters as just referenced on behalf of my client Silver Therapeutics. We've been in operations for a good couple years now at this location. Um we're looking to change the hours to be more consistent with our customer flow. So that means increasing in some areas and
decreasing in other areas and then also to allow us to uh offer delivery services at the location. Um I just have this really brief presentation. You've met some of the members of the team in the past. Um the existing facility which
is up and running uh wanted to change from seven days a week. We're currently at 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 pm. And um what we're hoping to do is change for 6 days a week um
sorry 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. So allow us those two hours earlier in the morning and then on Sunday actually reduce our hours from uh to 11:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. Currently we're open till 8:00 PM on Sunday. And then, as I mentioned, we're
requesting a delivery service endorsement. And and there's a couple different deliveries, but just to refresh everyone's recollections, that's like the Uber Eats delivery one where someone comes, picks up, it's like a courier service. Um, a third party social equity um operator uh picks up
from the location, the orders go through uh us through the uh Silver Therapeutic, and they're serviced by a third party vendor. Uh this is just in case no one's familiar with this. It's a great facility. It's a beautiful buildout. Was built on the city farm former uh
greenhouse and they built this nice farmlike looking structure uh in Rosendale on American Legion Highway. This is what it looks like. And in terms of other um nearby operators, most are
later than we are. One is earlier and the other is the same. And that's it. Happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Mike. We'll begin with questions, comments from the board, beginning with Chairwoman Joyce. >> I'm going to reserve my questions if I
have any until after the public testimony. >> Commissioner Holmes. >> No. All set. No questions. Thank you. >> Commissioner Sto. >> Hey, councelor. um question and this might uh it's come I'll just go on and
say why not later it's just throwing me off and I hate to ask it but like I'm sure there's other folks on this Zoom right now that are like why would you ask that but from a business lens I'm just it's not going through my head >> you know these guys know what they're doing they have a really good plan and
they just want to tailor their hours to what they're doing and you know the regulations state that we have to be open for what were stated and so it's just you know keeping everything consistent uh and it works for them. I mean, earlier is good because what you miss
the nine o'c, you know, people heading out in the morning for work. Um, you know, we're not gonna you we're going after that that 9:00 am um crowd. We've lost that for the first couple hours. I think there's been some demand expressed from some of the customers. Hey, you
know, do you can you open a little earlier? But it just it's that's really all they're trying to do. They're not it's not a late night operation. Uh people are home by then. Uh it's in a residential setting. I should have mentioned we met with the Mount Hope Neighborhood Association. Great little community group there in support of
this. Uh we also had an abuters meeting as well. Um so um it just seems to be working. >> Okay. Um yeah, fair enough. And then uh then the other follow-up question similar to the last um uh establishment, any conversations with the local
electives on this? I know it's a small change, but just >> Yeah, actually state rep um Russell Holmes uh >> Okay, >> he he showed up at the meeting. We had a nice conversation with him. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> That was it. Uh Jasmine, thank you.
>> Um commission. >> Thank you, Jasmine. Uh so my first question would just be the same one I asked the uh other applicant. um what is like the the current staffing model and what is like the impact on staffing that you would expect this to have and sort of give us a little insight on the
conversations that have been had with current staff already. >> Yeah, I mean you know it will help it won't hurt it. It would mean a couple more orders are fulfilled. I don't have the exact number of what they I'm happy to supplement what we have. Um the the
one interesting thing with with the uh they've had many of the same people since the very first time we appeared uh there are some local residents who um were from Rosendale and still are from Rosendale who are who appeared at the first meeting when we first appeared to get this thing open that still are
affiliated with the operation. Um so it's um you know we're not going to see an increase of staff as a result of this. there will be that third-party, you know, delivery service, which, you know, that they have their own staff. That's not who we are. That's someone
else. But, um, that that that's always helpful. Uh, if you'd like, I can get you some sort of, um, in between now and the voting meeting, I can get you some report on what we have for staff, how many, you know, how many full-time, how many part-time, those kinds of things. If you'd like that, happy to supplement
the record. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think it's always helpful in these situations to understand like if it's going to, you know, create more opportunities where maybe a few part-time employees would be able to move to full-time if there is interest there. And then just making sure that people aren't being forced to change their uh hour schedule now if
it's something that they're not um you know willing to to deal with themselves. Uh and then my next question I noticed just in the the letter that was in the packet for us it says um >> you know this is seeking a license um on
behalf of the the city farm to um allow for a delivery of a recreational cannabis via greenway delivery which is itself seeking approval from the Massachusetts CCC as a social equity delivery operator. So, does does that mean that they are already operating as
a delivery service and are just like seeking to change their current status to social equity? Are they not even like a fully licensed delivery operator and they're still going going through the process to be able to start actually operating? >> That's a good question. Um, the answer
is I don't know exactly where they are um as an as an operation. This endorsement allows us to contract with any third-party um um operator. It just so happens that
uh we're seeking to operate with this group uh Greenway. So um it you know they have to be they have their own licensing procedure. They're based in Palmer, Massachusetts, I believe. So they have to first get approved in
Palmer for the garage and then I do know that the greenway this group will be servicing the three Massachusetts entities that Silver has. Silver has one in Boston, one in Palmer and one in um
Boston, one in Palmer, one in Western Mass somewhere. So, they'll handle all those three things, but they have to do go through their own licensing. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're still going through that right now as we speak. We each have to go through our
own um licensing requirements. And this happens to be one of them for us, going to the Boston Cannabis Board and getting the endorsement approval. >> Okay. And so the the license would allow you to operate with any delivery
operator. But if this um greenway delivery is operated, then it would be like you're exclusively using their services for delivery. >> Yeah. Because you really don't, you know, you it doesn't really help us. The orders come through us. We just need someone to do it. And as long as they're
good and they know what they're doing, then that's fine for us. There's really no reason for us to add a bunch of different uh delivery operators. Um, you know, one one's enough for for what this is. >> Okay. >> But we could we could add others if we
wanted to. >> All right. Yeah, the those are my only questions for now. >> And just to add, we do ask for a copy of the deliveries host community agreement and a copy of their license. So, we keep it on file. So, we will receive that once they are operational. So, we'll
have that on file. And I'll I'll supplement the record, Jasmine, uh with regard to what uh commissioner asked for. Okay, perfect. Um any other questions? Commissioner Dondi, sorry. >> Hi, Jasmine. Just a quick question um on
logistics. So, delivery service, are they going to be taking up any parking spaces or are there other little motor scooters? Like what is the logistics on kind of additional vehicles on the road? it will not require any additional infrastructure for us. This um facility
happens to have a lot of parking, a lot of unutilized parking. Um and so in this environment, you know, it's it's a lot easier. Obviously, if you're a storefront somewhere and like with no parking, it becomes a very valid it's a
valid question anyway, but it becomes an even more press, you know, important question about where the delivery driver is going to park. here. The delivery driver will just pull in to the existing facility which has I want to say over a dozen parking
spaces and be able to pull in uh and securely uh h have the um uh product uh uh brought into the car, however they do it, according to their own security protocols uh and then be able to leave.
It will not require the creation of additional parking or infrastructure relating to that. not here. >> Thank you. No other questions. >> Thank you. We will now move to public testimony beginning with elected officials, other representatives.
>> Madame chair and members of the board. For the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I'm the Roslandale community engagement specialist for the office of neighborhood services. The applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an abuters meeting held on March 30th with no abutters present. No issues or concerns were raised. Following the aboters's meeting, the proponent presented to Mount Hope
Canterbury Neighborhood Association, which completed the community process. To date, Alba office has not received any further community feedback. Thank you for your time, and the mayor's office of neighbor services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. >> Thank you, Jeremy. Are there any other elected officials, other representatives
that would like to speak? Uh, >> Luke, did anyone sign up to speak? Uh, >> not for this matter. No. >> Okay. Is there anyone that would like to provide testimony? Seeing no one, the board will take this matter under adisement. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Have a nice
day. >> Thank you. >> Great. We're going to move to our final matter. The lency is Community Growth Partners Boston LLC doing business as Rebel. Um the license permisses 591 Albany Street in Roxbury. The license
type is a marijuana retail license. They commenced operations in March of 2024. They held a community meeting on April 2nd, 2026. This is a non-equity applicant and they are also seeking to amend their license to allow for delivery of recreational cannabis
through a licensed marijuana courier. And they are seeking to change their operating hours. The current hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 7 days a week. The post hours are 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Who is present on behalf of the lency?
>> Hi, Charlotte Hannah is here. I'm present. And I'm also going to share my screen and give a presentation if you'll bear with me for just one second while I pull that up. Okay, let's see. One moment. Okay. Can you see my screen?
>> Yep. Perfect. >> Okay, great. Thanks so much. So, thank you and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for having me uh here today. We are requesting that we extend our hours and add um delivery services to be like the
previous applicant um performed by a licensed courier in the state. Um we are a woman-owned dispensary um located at 591 Albany Street. Um we've served thousands of people in the community. 100% of our workforce is our residents
of um of Boston and we haven't had any um violations since we've been open or any problems in the community. Um we are requesting to extend our hours. Currently we're open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. um every day except for Sunday
when we're open from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We're we're requesting extended hours to serve the community before they people get to work. We're near the hospital actually and we get a lot of um uh business from people who work in the
hospital, you know, coming in for later shifts or earlier shifts. So that'll also help serve a big part of the working um community that is close by. Um uh we're also asking to add delivery services and get an endorsement to work
with a courier contracted and that we contract with and is licensed with the state. Um, you know, the online ordering would happen through our e-commerce platform. Um, we'd start with one vehicle and scale up from there. Um, and delivery would only happen in, you know,
when we're open. I do believe that the later hours, um, will primarily be to support our delivery business. Um, one of the operators that we're farther along with in conversations is, um, you know, doing delivery currently in Boston. And I understand that that, you
know, the evening hours are the busiest hours. So our late hours are, you know, to serve the community and the people that live in our neighborhood, but also the people who live in our neighborhood who are wanting delivery as well. We expect most of the we have a we're in a pretty dense um uh you know, population
dense community, particularly with the Ink Block neighborhood and a lot of highrises going up around us. So our del our plans are for delivery to be predominantly for people in the community. Um, so why do we want to extend our hours? Our our customers are asking for
it. Um, we are open, you know, people, our busiest hours are the end of the day after work and during the shift changes in the hospital. Um and we think our community should have access to later hours just like um you know the dispensaries in the Back Bay for example
that are open later and and and many of the dispensaries as you all well know are open you know till 11:00 in in Boston. Um and so that's just gives our community we're the only dispensary in the south end. So that just gives the south end community the same kind of access that other communities in Boston
have as well. um you know how would our delivery um operations plan work? You know, people would order online through our e-commerce platform. Um and then we would prepare the orders and then the licensed courier would come and pick it up. Um and then, you know, of course,
the IDs are checked, you know, both at the time of order online and then also in person. And everything would be cashless for for delivery as well. No cash uh for transactions. um you know there wouldn't be really any change to our security plan. We have
lots of cameras outside the building. We actually have three dedicated parking spaces behind our building for um staff and for deliveries. So that's where the delivery vehicle would would go to pick up orders and that's where you know that
you know there really wouldn't be any change to parking um for customers. um you know for extended hours you know we would we would be hiring some additional staff for those later hours um you know currently we have six full-time staff so
you know I expect to be hiring more people from the community to accommodate um both you know fulfilling delivery orders and also being being open later um we had a meeting with the neighborhood association the newly merged community um association in the
south and um where we you know had full support. Um we had a a community meeting um as you mentioned on April the 2nd. Um no one came to the meeting and there was no opposition. And in fact when we had our original community outreach meeting to open the dispensary in 20 I think the
meetings were in 2023. Um people actually requested that we have delivery. um that came up pretty consistently in the community meetings and in our one-on-one meetings with um um you know advocates in the community as well. So um I'm happy to finally be
able to provide that service to the community as well. Um, our staffing 100, as I mentioned before, um, we're a diverse team. Um, 100% of our employees come from, uh, the neighbor, uh, from Boston, mostly from the neighborhood.
And, you know, we would be adding staff to accommodate these changes as well. Um, you know, I just wanted to make a point about youth, youth protection and diversion. You know, we would, we've never had a problem, you know, in our store. Um we would you know continue to
be very cognizant of IG ID checking both um you know in the store and then requiring that our courier who's licensed also follow the same protocols um and you know we'd be doing a lot of training with our staff around um you know continuous ongoing training as we
always do and that is um our presentation. Thank you so much. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Hi thank you Charlotte. Um, just to confirm cuz the application I'm looking at it says 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. You're seeking 8:00 a.m.
>> Yes. Yes. That I'm so sorry. That's a mistake. We are seeking We're currently open We currently open at um 10 and that's and we're seeking to open at 8 um to get for the people in the community that want to come in before work.
>> Okay. Did you >> or or the shift changes in the hospital? Did you say 8 am at the community meeting? Just want to make sure. >> Um I'm pretty sure I did. Yeah. Um I I want to This is the same presentation basically that I gave at the community meeting with with Eva.
>> Okay. We'll talk about that offline, but Okay. >> Sorry. >> We we'll move to questions or comments from the board beginning with Chairwoman Joyce. >> Uh thank you. Thank you. Um I'll wait for the public comments. Thank you,
>> Commissioner Holmes. >> Um, have you already I'm sorry. Yes, Jasmine. Um, have you already contracted with a delivery company and what would that do? I'm sure um, Commissioner Gandhi is going to ask you this, too.
Um, what does that do for the parking situation where you're located now? Where would the delivery trucks be picking up from? you know that kind of stuff. >> Yeah. Um I have not contracted with anyone yet. I there are eight currently
licensed couriers in the state. I have talked to several of them and I'm pretty far along with one of them. Um it's likely the group that I'm I'm going to be working with that has some experience already in Boston. Um but no, I haven't formally contracted with them yet. I wanted to get through this process
first. Um and then um our building has um an alley behind it for parking and there's a garage um for the building, the massive building behind us. So we have three dedicated parking spots behind our building that are for staff
and for incoming inbound deliveries of product. And so that the the delivery vehicle would be um parking right there um at our back entrance where we fulfill you know incoming and then and hopefully soon outbound deliveries as well.
>> Okay, great. Thank you for that. Thank you very much. >> Sure. >> Commissioner Sto. >> Thanks Jasmine. Um just similar question as the prior uh folks. uh any direct communication with the local elected officials?
>> No, I have not done that yet, but I certainly can if if you would like me to. Um I will say that during our initial community outreach meeting, uh Council Member Flynn did give us a letter of support, not a letter of non-oposition. And one of the things that came up in our meeting with him was
you really should provide delivery in the in the community. So that was it was a a pretty consistent theme as we were doing our original community outreach meeting >> and um which is uh good to hear that that was already voiced as a potential
kind of avenue. I just feel like the dynamics and the politics and things that are happening in the community particularly this one has a lot of kind of different ways that it can spill out. So just really recommend uh encourage
you to have that conversation. Um just given the gravity of the issues in the area you know we recently um declined an application uh I don't know the right exact terminology. Jasmine can correct me, but you know an application that was
going to be on Massav where they were even proposing that it had you know benefits to alleviate the concerns in the I mean it was like really you know kind of um and and folks were very much opposed to that right and delivery was a
part of that right so I just want to make sure that we're >> having those conversations you know and not relying on something that could potentially be a stale perspective given the gravity of kind of what's happening today with mass and cast you know which
is yes several blocks down the road from your establishment but it the impact of it reverberates so I just want to make sure that we're having those conversations so >> for sure thank you point taken and I will make sure to do that um and forward any kind of correspondence ahead of the
next meeting >> awesome that would be that would be great okay thank you question. >> Thank you, Jasmine. Um, yeah, so most of my like employment impact questions, it seems like you already did uh answer on
your presentation, so I appreciate that. Um, I did I was curious uh because in like kind of the introductory piece about the intro introduction of the delivery, it mentions um you're just going to start with one vehicle, >> but it sounds like you're contracting
through another company instead of like owning your own. So, >> I'm curious what that would look like. Is it like you're going to like write it into a contract with whatever company that they'll only have one dedicated to your business or something? Yeah, that's sort of initially what we're talking about is that that company's vehicle
that has already been inspected and approved by the state would be used um for our our um location exclusively. >> Okay. All right. Um yeah, that's the only real question that I had.
>> Thank you. I believe Commissioner Gandhi had to hop off. So there are no further questions from the board. We will move to public testimony. Begin now with elected officials, other representatives. >> Hello, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Eva Jones representing the mayor's office and neighborhood
services regarding 591 Albany Street. Our office defers to the board's judgment. A community process was conducted including at a Butters meeting held on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 with a flyer that was distributed with the 8 a.m. hours. I just double checked for Jasmine. Uh that was not attended by any
community members. The proposal was connected with the Blackstone Franklin Square president and civic association and communication was positive and ongoing. At this time, the mayor's office of neighborhood services defers to the board's judgment on this matter. Thank you everyone for your time and consideration. >> Thank you, Eva. Are there any other
elected officials or representatives that would like to speak? Seeing none, Luke, did anyone sign up to testify? >> Uh, no, not for this matter. >> Is there anyone here that would like to provide testimony on this matter? All right, seeing no one, the board will
take this matter under adisement. Thank you, Charlotte. >> Thank you. >> All right, those were all the matters before the board today. The board's voting meeting will take place next Wednesday, May 13th, at 1 p.m. Again, the record will be kept open until Monday, May 11th at 5:00 p.m. Thank you
all for attending and enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you.