Neighbors say Springfield cannabis shop making area miserable
SPRINGFIELD — Parents no longer let their children walk to the bus stop, traffic has become chaotic and people are smoking in the parking lot since a new marijuana dispensary moved into a Pine Point neighborhood.
About 35 people who live on Lamont, Fargo and other nearby streets gathered at Balliet School Wednesday to say since EMBR moved into their neighborhood life has been a nightmare of noise, trash and traffic.
City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce organized the public meeting after hearing many and varied complaints, bringing together residents, police and EMBR to try to find solutions.
"It popped out of nowhere. I think of it as a devil's den," said Pamela Thomas, one of the neighbors.
Thomas now walks her goddaughter to the bus stop daily because she doesn't trust erratic drivers who pull out into traffic, stop on a dime, speed and simply don't pay attention. She won't even let the child's older sister meet the bus to walk home with her because of the danger.
EMBR opened about 11 months ago at the corner of Boston Road and Lamont Street. While it did seem to pop up out of nowhere, that is only because the permits were granted more than three years ago to KUR Retailers LLC and were later sold to EMBR, which also operates a dispensary in Northampton, said Ryan McCollum, who is working for the company.
"This behavior on the corner on Boston Road, there is nothing like it that is going on other pot shops. Why is it here, why do we have to deal with this? It is disrespectful with capital letters," said Marian Corbin. "They don't care about our neighborhood."
But Brian Horrigan, a member of the management team, said EMBR is aware of the complaints and is trying to find some solutions so they can operate without disrupting the side streets.
Parking is a problem and spills out onto the market across the street. The company is currently working with a neighboring law office to use a vacant lot next door to expand parking, McCollum said.
"To do that, we need a zone change," he said, adding the request will go to the Planning Board in November and the City Council in January.
The company has hired a security firm, tasked employees with picking up litter and is trying to add no-parking and no-idling signs to prevent illegal parking, he said.
But neighbors said they want more. Many called for the shop to hire police, especially on its three busiest days — Thursday, Friday and Saturday. they said security officers are a welcome addition, but should be in the parking lot where they see people smoking the products they buy and ignoring basic traffic rules.
Police Lt. Jamie Bruno urged residents to call 911 any time they see a problem but many said they were hesitant to do so for what they feel are nuisance offenses and not a real emergency.
"It is an emergency," Bruno said. "If we don't know these things we can't address them."
He said he wants the neighborhood to share data with police such as the time offenses are occurring and what is happening so they can have patrols be there at times when problems are likely taking place.
Neighbors recommended moving a bus stop that is in front of EMBR saying they no longer feel safe letting their children get off the bus and walk a short distance home alone because of the store, which opens at 8 a.m.
They also asked if the entrance and exit to the shop can be moved to Boston Road to keep customers from cutting through the quiet neighborhood that has narrow streets and few sidewalks.
But one woman who has young children questioned if the efforts will yield results.
"I don't think you can do anything to make this work. What can we do to take the next step to say this isn't working for us," she said. "I want my community to be safe."
Click-Bruce left with a list of ideas to improve the situation immediately including requiring police details, cutting down a tree that blocks drivers' line of sight, creating a no-turn-on-red on the nearby traffic light and having a conversation about changing the entrance to the shop.
Neighborhood residents will meet again on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Pine Point Library.
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