Heady Vermont reports..
“The Board is on the cusp of issuing our first batch of licenses,” Chair James Pepper reported at the start of today’s regular meeting of the Vermont Cannabis Control Board.
Internal processes of the Control Board will be significantly sped up upon the hiring of a licensing staff and compliance enforcement team. With over 200 applications for these roles, Pepper said he is confident these roles will soon be filled.
“It’s a bit of a good news bad news situation,” Pepper said before explaining how none of the pre-qualified ‘top priority’ applications are fully complete. Although social equity applicants and small outdoor cultivators receive priority review, the Board cannot move forward with any of these applications due to a lack of completion in all of them.
Although social equity applicants and small outdoor cultivators receive priority review, the Board cannot move forward with any of these applications due to a lack of completion in all of them.
Applicants with incomplete sections have been contacted by board staff and instructed on exactly how to go forward. Incomplete sections include: Good standing documentation from the Tax Department, cultivation site diagrams, information on banking and insurance, background checks, and licensing fee payment. The link for fee payment is on the Board’s website.
In this vein, the Control Board reminded applicants not to forget about fire safety plans. “Vermont has a lot of very old homes with deteriorating electrical systems. Overloading [these] can create a significant fire hazard,” Pepper warned.
Applicants in Southern Vermont (below Windsor county line) can connect with Landon Wheeler (landon.wheeler@vermont.gov) and applicants in Northern Vermont should contact Ben Moffatt (benjamin.moffatt@vermont.gov) regarding fire safety plans.
Concerns regarding business’ names were addressed today. Statute in Rule 1 outlines a requirement to avoid any advertising that may be enticing to children and young adults under the age of 21. The Control Board said they will continue to review applications regardless of proposed business names, however they added that warnings will be issued in order to make said applicants aware of the issues they will likely face with a name that could appeal to minors.
Other updates shared in the May 9 CCB meeting:
- A&R ground water and drinking water protections rules
Applications are currently open for all cultivation tiers (except Tier Six, the largest). The pre-qualification application window closes on May 31.
Source: https://headyvermont.com/2022/05/09/licensing-update-monday-may-9/?mc_cid=d6a1648778
