Former Greenfield Mayor William Martin ponders his first purchase from employee Derek Conz on the first day of recreational sales at the Patriot Care marijuana dispensary in April. Staff File Photo/PAUL FRANZ

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GREENFIELD — Patriot Care, the city’s first recreational marijuana shop, has generated $51,957.03 for Greenfield through local tax revenue since April.

According to the Greenfield Tax Collector’s Office, Patriot Care also paid $15,000 toward a marijuana host agreement with the city in the 2019 fiscal year. The host agreement, which Patriot Care received in June 2018, outlines the property tax, local contributions and additional support to local organizations.

Both the previous and present mayors — William Martin and Roxann Wedegartner — said the income will be a source of funding for the city’s future budgets.

Martin said 3 percent of the revenue generated by Patriot Care will be put toward other post-employment benefits, which “are going to increase each year going forward.” There will be an additional 3 percent in revenue, which Wedegartner’s Chief of Staff Danielle Letourneau said will go into the general fund.

Letourneau said the recreational marijuana industry fits into the mayor’s economic development plans overall.

“It’s going to help with the increasing costs in the budget,” she said.

Besides Patriot Care, located at 7 Legion Ave., other recreational marijuana shops could be popping up around Greenfield in the near future. Stores expected to be coming down the pipeline include Toro Verde with a proposed location of 51 Davis St., Herbology with a proposed location of 8 Woodard Road and Green River Cannabis with a proposed location at 398 Deerfield St.

Greenfield’s Department of Planning and Development Director Eric Twarog said Toro Verde, Herbology and Green River Cannabis each have local approval and a host agreement with the city. None of the businesses have begun construction or renovation, Twarog said.

Herbology is scheduled to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals in February to modify its special permit. It is also the only additional business besides Patriot Care to propose selling both medical and recreational marijuana.

Twarog also added that two other businesses — Greensider and 15 Arch LLC — have expressed interest. While 15 Arch LLC has a host agreement with the city, it does not have local approval; Greensider has neither a host agreement nor local approval.

“Each business has two years from the date of approval to do something or request an extension and if not, they have to start all over,” he said. “Time will tell what will be up and operational.”

The former mayor also estimated that, based on the data the city has received so far, in a year, the tax revenue generated from Patriot Care would be about $200,000.

According to David Catanzano, director of operations for Patriot Care, business at the Greenfield location has been going well since adult-use sales started in April 2019.

As the first medical marijuana facility in Franklin County, Patriot Care began serving patients after three years of preparation on April 30, 2018, and transitioned to include recreational marijuana in January 2019 after obtaining its final license from the state Cannabis Control Commission.

“The adult-use program has driven more business, and sales numbers are higher compared to the same period last year,” Catanzano said. “Importantly, we have maintained our reputation within the Greenfield community as a safe and respected neighbor.”

According to Josephine Belluardo, a media relations representative for Patriot Care, the most popular product at the Greenfield dispensary is flower. They were unable to comment on whether this was affected by the recent ban on the sale of vaping products.

Additionally, Belluardo said the average cost of a purchase for Massachusetts Patriot Care dispensaries is $92 (as of the third quarter of 2019).

Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264. Melina Bourdeau can be reached at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.