Equitable Opportunities Now submitted the comments below with these suggested red-lined edits to the Cannabis Control Commission in response to a call for public comments to their proposed draft Model HCA.
Please email kevin@masseon.com with any questions or feedback.
RE: Equitable Opportunities Now Public Comments Regarding the CCC’s Model HCA
Dear Cannabis Control Commission Acting Chair Concepcion and Commissioners,
Thank you for your work to develop a Model Host Community Agreement that seeks to guide municipalities and applicants/licensees in establishing fair and equitable host community agreements (HCAs) that meet community needs.
We are encouraged that you have sought to give applicants and licensees flexibility with regard to real estate and siting per section 3. We further appreciate your including language to make clear that Community Impact Fees (CIFs) may be waived, and that you appear to have created a template that includes minimally restrictive terms on business operations.
To help you advance your goals of advancing equitable participation in Massachusetts’ cannabis industry, we write on behalf of Equitable Opportunities Now and our supporters around the Commonwealth to provide the suggested revisions redlined in the document below.
Specifically, we urge you to incorporate the following enhancements to the draft document:
- Add subregulatory guidance in the form of a cover letter to municipalities and applicants/licensees that informs them of the:
- Purpose of an HCA
- Right to waive an HCA and/or to waive CIFs
- Prohibited or limited conditions
- Provisions of 935 CMR 500.181 related to equitable negotiation of HCAs and equitable municipal licensing
- What applicants/licensees should do if they feel a municipality has violated those regulations
- Limitations on HCAs and CIFs
- Administrative and legal remedies for non-compliant HCAs and CIFs
- Criteria by which the CCC will evaluate HCAs for compliance
- What to do after an HCA has been signed
- Add an HCA waiver template to the Model HCA
- Add language to the preamble requiring the Parties to acknowledge their awareness and compliance with of 935 CMR 500.180 and 181
- Integrate Section 3(c) into 3(b) to encourage maximum flexibility related to location and simplify the document
- Update Section 4 to add a subsection (e) that affirms the Parties’ compliance with the Commission’s prohibition against undue influence pursuant to 935 CMR 500.181(2)(k)(5)
- Update Section 4 to add a subsection (f) that affirms the Parties’ compliance with the Commission’s prohibition against the use of additional outside contracts
- Update Section 4 to add a subsection (g) that affirms the Parties’ compliance with the Commission’s Equity Standards for Host Communities during HCA Negotiations with Equity Parties, if applicable
- Clarify that while the Municipality may not assess a CIF after 8 years, it has the option of reducing that term within the HCA as suggested in Section 5(a)(6).
- Update Section 5(b) to clarify that a Municipality may elect through its HCA to waive all CIFs
- Update Section 5(c) to clarify that a Municipality may waive Generally Occurring Fees for equity businesses as part of its efforts to promote full participation
- Update Section 5(3) to clarify that a Municipality may waive property and other taxes for equity businesses as part of its efforts to promote full participation
Thank you again for all of your work on this. Please do not hesitate to reach out to EON Co-Founder Shanel Lindsay at Shanel@masseon.com if we can be a resource or partner to you in the future.
Best regards,
Shanel Lindsay, Co-Founder, Equitable Opportunities Now
Armani White, Policy Co-Chair, Equitable Opportunities Now
Kevin Gilnack, Policy Co-Chair, Equitable Opportunities Now