Town Manager Statement on Cannabis Refund Demand

In a statement released last week, two of Great Barrington’s retail marijuana businesses, Theory Wellness and Rebelle (owned by Community Growth Partners), announced that they are demanding that the Town refund community impact fees they paid to the Town under their host community agreements (HCA's) for those businesses. These HCA's were willingly entered into when the businesses approached the Town in connection with their requests for a license to operate from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission – Theory Wellness in 2016 and 2018, and Rebelle in 2019. A host community agreement was a requirement to obtain a license from the state. The Town did not suggest or in any way require that these businesses seek to locate and operate in Great Barrington; they did so by their own determination that the Town would be a favorable place to engage in the sale of marijuana products. By most, if not all, accounts, their operations have been financially rewarding.

Under the HCA's, each establishment agreed to the amount of the community impact fees, and a payment schedule for those fees. They are now asserting that the fees were illegal, and that the Town should make a full refund. This demand is not based on a court ruling or a determination by the Cannabis Control Commission, or any other state agency, that the impact fees paid to the Town were illegal. Rather, it is an ultimatum resting on the preferred view of businesses in the marijuana industry – a one-sided view. 

The Town has been diligent in monitoring the effects of marijuana sales in and around Great Barrington. As would be the case with any new industry, some of those effects cannot be fully known for several years while some can be more apparent, such as the need for education and counseling for citizens young and old regarding marijuana use. That need and others can be addressed with the help of community impact fees paid by marijuana businesses. To wisely manage the fees it receives, the Town has created a Community Impact Funding Committee to evaluate applications for grants toward community support and resources.

As it stands, the issue is very simple. Both of these businesses freely agreed to the terms of their HCA's, including payment of the community impact fees. Now, after skipping payments that were due, they want to declare that their payment agreements were illegal. In plain words, the failure to pay is a violation of the HCA's and a breach of contract.

The Town understands that these establishments will likely file legal action and ask the courts to order the Town to issue refunds. If that happens, the Town will respond accordingly, and will take the reasonable and appropriate action to defend the legality of the HCA’s.

When two parties voluntarily enter into a contract, each has the right to expect that the other will continue to comply with the contract if they both keep their ends of the bargain and don’t breach the contract. 

In this instance, the Town believes that it has complied with the requirements of the HCAs with Theory Wellness and Rebelle and that it has not committed any breach that would relieve the businesses from their obligations. Therefore, the Town has relied on these businesses to fulfill the promises they made in the HCA’s, and will continue to expect that they abide by their commitments.