WINCHENDON — A public hearing for a proposed marijuana dispensary at 703 School Street was delayed on the evening of Tuesday, July 1, 2025, after the Winchendon Planning Board lacked the quorum necessary to vote on a special permit.
Only three of the four Planning Board members were present, and four—constituting the supermajority required under Massachusetts law—are needed to act on special permit applications.
“A special permit issued by a special permit granting authority shall require a two-thirds vote of boards with more than five members, a vote of at least four members of a five member board, and a unanimous vote of a three member board,” according to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 9. Although the law does not directly address four-member boards, Planning Board Chair Guy Corbosiero said that four members were necessary for a quorum.
“Well, guess what? I’m going to have to continue this,” Corbosiero said during the July 1 meeting. “It takes four people for a special permit, and as you can see, we only have three.”
Acknowledging that four members needed to be present to act on the special permit, Justin LeClair of McCarty Engineering asked if the board would still entertain discussion in order to finalize some remaining items based on Patrick Wood, the town engineer’s, response to comments. LeClair said the project team hoped to resolve the remaining technical items ahead of the continued hearing.
The proposed dispensary is being developed by Isaac Stahl, co-manager of Izapa Stela 5 LLC, which owns the property. During the meeting, Justin LeClair of McCarty Engineering and Tolla Sears, who serves alongside Stahl as co-manager and authorized representative of Izapa Stela 5 LLC, presented updates on the site plan, identifying two outstanding items: the recording of an easement and submission of a lighting plan.
The first outstanding issue involved a permanent access easement for the single driveway that bisects 701 and 703 School Street, both of which are owned by Isaac Stahl. LeClair noted that the dispensary will function as “a separate business from the house,” so a recorded easement is necessary to guarantee that whoever owns either parcel in the future “can pass and repass over that driveway.” LeClair said the draft plan already shows the easement’s location but asked to submit the formal metes-and-bounds document later: “We don’t disagree with what Mr. Wood is asking for—we’re just asking that we provide it further down the line once everything else is established,” LeClair said. Wood – who was at the meeting – agreed, provided the easement plan is prepared, reviewed by the planning board, and recorded with the registry of deeds prior to any building permit being issued.
The second outstanding item concerned site lighting. LeClair said the team is still drafting a full photometric plan that must satisfy Cannabis Control Commission security rules, police recommendations, and the town’s spill-light limits. LeClair asked the board to handle it like the driveway easement—approve the project in August on the condition that the finished lighting plan is vetted by the town engineer and planning staff and filed before any building permit is issued. The current concept retains an existing fixture on a Route 12 utility pole and adds wall-pack lights on the dispensary building, but the final layout will be submitted for staff review and board approval before any building permit is issued. “We would just like to be able to come back in August and be in agreement on the plan as is,” LeClair told the board.
“I think we are in consensus that we can put these two items as conditional on a building permit, tentatively,” Planning Board Chair Corbosiero said in response.
A motion to continue the hearing was made and approved unanimously by the planning board due to the lack of quorum.
The public hearing is now scheduled to continue on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at 6:05 p.m. in the second floor auditorium of the Winchendon Town Office Building, located at 109 Front Street.
