South Boston pot shop that was voted down will get rehearing

A politically connected South Boston pot shop proposal shot down by the zoning board last month is getting sparked back to life with the grant of a rare rehearing that has opponents fired up.

Holland Brands, which is proposed for an old industrial site at 115 K St. in Southie, will be reheard by the board July 13.

An Inspectional Services Department spokeswoman said the rescheduling was sought and allowed because “technical difficulties” stopped some members from hearing the case May 18, when the Zoning Board of Appeals voted it down, 4-1.

Opponents of the pot project were blunt in their assessments of what was going on with the project.

“It’s outrageous that a company that received a fair and public hearing and didn’t get the vote that they wanted now are trying to seek another hearing,” City Councilor Ed Flynn, whose district includes South Boston, told the Herald on Tuesday, adding that he’d never seen something like this happen. “Their previous hearing was fair and open to the public and there was a lot of good community feedback.”

Officials and residents at the May hearing fumed about how busy the shop would make the area.

The ZBA appeared to nip the pot proposal in the bud last month, when the normally acquiescent board took the unusual step of voting this shop down, with only one member speaking up in favor of it.

Developer Geoffrey Caraboolad had brought on a couple of notable Boston names, including PR maven Colette Phillips and former City Councilor Mike Ross, who is representing the project as its attorney. Ross didn’t respond to a request for comment on the project’s behalf on Tuesday.

Most notably, the general contractor for the project was slated to be Greg Janey, a longtime Boston builder who’s the cousin of Acting Mayor Kim Janey.

Boston-based attorney Glen Hannington, who represents several abutters, said his clients are suspicious the proponents and the officials are hashing out some change behind closed doors.

“They just see the players involved on the cannabis side and this sudden hearing being granted,” Hannington said. “They’re furious.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3gzs6Qb