Home Care In Westbrook, CT

WESTBROOK – A Michigan-based maker of marijuana-infused drinks got an initial nod of approval Monday to open a manufacturing center in a mostly residential neighborhood.

Emerald Canning Partners and Boston-based Adams Avenue Asset Management received unanimous approval from the Westbrook Planning Commission to put a marijuana food and beverage manufacturer in the industrial building at 1244 Old Clinton Road.

The application still needs approval from the Zoning Commission.

Unlike a marijuana retail store on Boston Post Road that has drawn strong opposition from residents of the shoreline town, the proposal for a marijuana edibles manufacturer had a positive reception from the commission.

The applicant Drew Breuninger told the commission that the facility would only be used for manufacturing. There would be no retail, no customers and no cash on site, he said. And the new use of the building wouldn’t have an impact on the surrounding neighborhood, he said.

“If we didn’t have to be here [to get approval from the commission], no one would even know that we were there, to be honest,” Breuninger said. “Ultimately, that’s the safest and most secure. There’s not going to be signage. If we were just operating as a manufacturing facility for this intended use right now without going through public hearings, no one would know we existed.”

The one-story, more than 12,000-square-foot industrial building set along railroad tracks – just a short drive from Interstate 95 and Westbrook Center – is on a tree-lined street that is otherwise filled with single-family homes.

It currently houses a heating equipment supplier that commissioner Bill Neale, who said he lives nearby, said doesn’t disturb the neighborhood.

Neale said the property is industrial because it was a factory before zoning, and it was kept industrial as a pre-existing use despite being surrounded by a residential neighborhood.

“All around is all people’s houses, with their windows facing it,” Neale said.

He said the building’s occupants have always been good neighbors to the community, and Breuninger said they intended to do the same.

Emerald Canning Partners’ application says the facility will “not emit any cannabis odor.” The company will buy distilled marijuana oil from other producers and infuse that oil into its products. All of the plant compounds are removed during the oil extraction process, so the oil they use doesn’t have the distinct smell of marijuana flower, the application said.

The security plan in the application states that “some new lighting” will be installed to light the outside of the building and parking lot, a change Neale said was his main concern for the residents. The application also says the lighting has “glare protection” and wouldn’t interfere with neighboring properties.

State records show Emerald Canning Partners has a provisional license for marijuana food and beverage manufacturing, which it was awarded in the state’s general lottery last year.

Westbrook residents filled public hearings last year to oppose a marijuana retail store proposed for a mixed commercial and residential area on Boston Post Road. The Planning Commission was split 2-2 on the retail store, and didn’t find that it was consistent with the town’s development plan.

But the majority of the Zoning Commission agreed it met the town’s regulations and approved the retail store in January. Local residents have appealed that decision to Superior Court and petitioned the commission to ban any more marijuana stores in the mixed-use “NCD” zone that runs along Boston Post Road.

The manufacturing plan didn’t face the same scrutiny from the Planning Commission, which voted 4-0 to give its approval, finding that the proposal matches the town’s plans for development.

“If it’s quiet like it is now, everybody’s happy,” Neale said. “They come and go and nobody is disturbed.”

The proposal, which also includes a plan to expand the parking lot on the east side of the building to meet the town’s parking requirements, is scheduled for a public hearing with the Zoning Commission on May 22.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

[email protected]

WESTBROOK – The Westbrook man behind a second application for a marijuana retailer on Boston Post Road said he believes his new location will cause less outrage among residents who had unsuccessfully pushed the town to ban additional marijuana stores.

Sam Lyman is seeking approval for a store at 144 Boston Post Road, a little over a mile away from BUDR’s planned retailer at 755 Boston Post Road, which the Zoning Commission approved earlier this year, much to the ire of a local beach community.

Lyman said his location, which is currently being used as a standalone RV store and is surrounded by other businesses, won’t have the same issues that many Westbrook residents had with the BUDR store.

The marijuana business would be the only occupant at the site, Lyman said, unlike BUDR, which shares its building with a laundromat and apartments.

Lyman said he thinks opposition to the BUDR store is mainly due to its location, and he hopes residents see his location is a better fit.

“Of course there’s going to be people against the use in general, but I think for a lot of reasons, my location is the appropriate location, and hopefully everyone will feel the same,” Lyman said. “I’m sensitive to the issue. I live in town, and I want to make sure I deliver a product that exceeds the town’s expectations.”

Residents’ plea for ban is rejected

The rollout of legalized marijuana has roiled the Zoning Commission of the small shoreline community since BUDR applied to open a marijuana retail shop last year.

Concerned residents packed public hearings to oppose the BUDR store, many not realizing the commission had already written rules to allow marijuana businesses last summer after public hearings that drew little interest.

The commission approved the BUDR store, saying it met the regulations, and a group of Westbrook residents reacted by appealing the decision to state Superior Court. They also petitioned the commission for a regulation change that would ban any more marijuana stores in the town’s zoned Neighborhood Commercial District – the mixed commercial and residential neighborhood along the Boston Post Road that includes the BUDR store and Lyman’s proposed store.

But on Monday, the commission declined to ban marijuana stores in that zone, voting 4-1 against the petition. Zoning Chair Harry Ruppenicker Jr. told CT Examiner on Tuesday that he and other commissioners were reluctant to ban marijuana retailers so soon after it approved BUDR. It would make the BUDR store a pre-existing, nonconforming use just months after it was approved, he said.

Ruppenicker explained that the commission already debated its marijuana regulations last year. It held the public hearing open for months, and only two people came to speak – one in favor and one opposed, he said.

The lack of interest when the commission was writing the regulations is a stark contrast to the packed meetings the commission has held since word spread about BUDR’s application late last year.

“Everyone is busy with their lives, and I don’t know how many people have time to monitor what goes on on different boards and commissions,” Ruppenicker said. “I think once the application became known, the beach association spread the word and motivated, obviously heightened interest for people to come out in opposition to that specific application.”

Commission looks for a pause

While the commission rejected the residents’ petition to ban more marijuana retail in the Neighborhood Commercial District, they also scheduled a hearing for a proposed six-month moratorium on marijuana retail applications for July 24.

“I think the commission would just like to hit the pause button,” Ruppenicker said. “Let [BUDR] open and just sort of gauge the impact of it before we tackle another one.”

But that pause won’t stop Lyman’s application, which Ruppenicker said he was completely surprised by when it was submitted last week. Initially, Ruppenicker said the town was told that a community the size of Westbrook could only have one marijuana retailer.

Later, they were told there was no limit, he said. In an attempt to limit the number, the commission noted in its regulations that marijuana retailers had to be at least 5,000 feet away from each other.

“We thought we would either have one retailer sort of in the center of town, or that we would have one maybe toward Clinton and one towards Old Saybrook,” Ruppenicker said. “We didn’t really have any expectations. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been no applications, this was all new territory for us.”

The commission set an Aug. 28 hearing for Lyman’s application, giving town staff the maximum two months to review it.

Lyman said he doesn’t have a state permit for a marijuana retailer, and is unsure whether he’ll apply on his own in the state lottery, or with a social equity applicant like BUDR did. He explained he could also partner with someone who has a license, who would effectively take it over from him.

“I know [BUDR] is having a tough time with their site, and … who knows? They might even want to come over to my site,” Lyman said. “Or it could be someone else who’s looking to be in the area. I know there’s many large players who are interested in this area.”

The commission also voted 4-1 on Monday to allow Emerald Canning to put a marijuana edibles manufacturer in an existing industrial building in a mostly residential neighborhood on Old Clinton Road.

That applicant, Drew Breuninger, has promised there would be no smell and no disturbance. His application drew far less opposition than BUDR’s retail store.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

[email protected]

WESTBROOK – Months after the Zoning Commission approved a marijuana retailer, residents upset with that decision are asking the commissioners to ban all future marijuana stores in their neighborhood along the Boston Post Road.

Some on the commission suggested that they were open to the idea, which comes after the commission’s January vote to allow BUDR to open a marijuana retail store at 755 Boston Post Road, the location of a former package store near West Beach. The commission approved the marijuana store by a 4-1 vote, even after residents packed public hearings to argue the store didn’t fit the residential beach community.

On Monday night, Westbrook resident Dave Russell said those who opposed BUDR wanted to ensure that no other marijuana store would be able to open in the town’s NCD zone – a mixed commercial and residential zone along the Boston Post Road.

Russell said boating and beaches are the “bread and butter” of Westbrook, and that marijuana outlets would cause problems for the beach communities along the Boston Post Road.

“Our thought is that this area is something we should be guarding, protecting, and making an attraction for Westbrook, for the right types of businesses that would cultivate what I think most of us kind of want with the beach, and the boating, and restaurants – and other things that would support the kind of summer recreational environment of a pleasant New England town,” Russell said.

The commission agreed to move forward with hearing an application after Russell and Jack Zamary – who are also part of a group of residents who are appealing the BUDR approval in Middletown Superior Court – meet with town zoning officials to work out a proposal. But the commissioners offered mixed opinions of the idea during an informal discussion of the residents’ preliminary application.

Vice Chair Dwayne Xenelis, the lone commissioner to vote against the BUDR application, said he didn’t think marijuana retailers should be allowed in the area, and he would support the application.

Commissioner Mike Engels said he wished that the commission heard the outcry against marijuana retailers before it wrote the regulations allowing BUDR to apply as a retail outlet for marijuana. He said earlier opposition probably would have swayed him to oppose allowing marijuana stores in the first place, but that now he was unsure.

“When all this started, six months, a year ago, that business was a retail liquor store, and a laundromat,” Engels said. “So we started the whole process of this thing saying, ‘Okay, what’s the difference between the two?’ and that’s where this came about. I’m very much in favor of business in a business building, and I didn’t see any difference if you went from a liquor store to a retail cannabis.”

Chair Harry Ruppenicker, Jr. made it clear that if the commission changes the regulation now, BUDR will still be allowed to open. He said he was concerned about the commission turning the marijuana store into a pre-existing, non-conforming use just three months after approving it.

Ruppenicker suggested a compromise – expanding the distance required between any two marijuana retailers, which he said would effectively eliminate the possibility of any future marijuana stores in that zone. Russell said they preferred banning it from the zone entirely, but said they would discuss options with town staff and bring a formal proposal to the commission.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

[email protected]

WESTBROOK — The owner of Dead Eye Rosie’s said he is still working towards adding sports betting kiosks at the Boston Post Road restaurant, but said the hurdles to obtaining a state license have him questioning whether it’s worth the effort.

Dead Eye Rosie’s owner Walter Bartkiewcz told CT Examiner that he withdrew his application to install 12 sports betting terminals from the Westbrook Zoning Commission because he was told by state officials that he didn’t need zoning approval — though a local zoning official said he hasn’t been told the project is exempt from zoning.

Bartkiewcz said that, for now, he is still seeking a license from Connecticut to operate the machines – but he said the state process is caught up in a dispute over how far his restaurant is from the reservation of the Mohegan Tribe.

His proposal drew a crowd of residents to a Zoning Commission hearing in March to oppose sports betting in Westbrook. That hearing came just a few months after the commission approved a marijuana retail business in the face of vocal opposition from residents.

The commission continued the public hearing to its meeting on April 24, when it was supposed to hear the results of a legal review over whether the betting kiosks fit the definition of an “arcade game” in Westbrook’s zoning regulations.

But Bartkiewcz withdrew the application, telling CT Examiner that state officials said he didn’t need local zoning approval.

Steve Hnatuk, Westbrook’s zoning enforcement officer, told CT Examiner that he’s not aware of sports betting being exempt from local zoning. He said he told Bartkiewcz that he will need to provide evidence that he is exempt from zoning if he decides to move forward with the gambling terminals.

Bartkiewcz said he’s not sure if he is going to keep pursuing the sports betting because his application for a state license is being held up by a dispute over how far Dead Eye Rosie’s is from the Mohegan reservation. State law doesn’t allow any sports betting retail licenses for businesses located within 25 miles of another sports betting location, or the reservation of either the Mohegan Tribe or Mashantucket Pequot Tribe.

“I am working through that right now,” Bartkiewcz said. “It could take a month, or it could take two years, I’m being told.”

He said when he initially applied for the state permit, he listed the distance from the Mohegan reservation in the road miles it would take to travel from one to the other, but the law requires the restaurant to be 25 miles away in a straight line. He said he believes the restaurant is still 25.12 miles away, but he is waiting on an answer from the state.

“It’s just been one thing after another because at the state, you never talk to the same person twice,” Bartkiewcz said.

But he said that he’s starting to question whether the machines are worth the effort, since his customers could place the same bets on their phone that they would be able to place on the machines.

“You can sit at the bar with your friends, take out your telephone and place a bet without using the machines inside the premises,” Bartkiewcz said. “So why would you want to get up if you could sit at the bar, use a telephone, it doesn’t cost you anything, and just do it? Why would you walk over to the machine, where I get a percentage of everything that goes through the machine? So I might have jumped the gun on this.”

Bartkiewcz said he isn’t sure at this point whether he is going to go through with his plan, or whether he’ll just forget it and advertise that people can bet at the bar on their phones to draw in more business. But he said he’ll decide soon.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

[email protected]

In September 1986, skeletal remains were discovered by fishermen in the Long Island Sound several miles off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut. Forensic anthropologists determined that the remains belonged to a White man who was between 18 and 30 years old at his time of death. Investigators were unable to determine the man’s cause of death or other identifying characteristics such as weight, height, eye color, or hair color due to the condition of the remains. Investigators estimate that the man had been dead for five years prior to the discovery of his remains. Since discovery, law enforcement investigators have diligently pursued various leads about the unknown man’s identity.

In October 2015, the case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as #UP14439. Despite exhaustive efforts, the case eventually went cold and the man’s identity has remained a mystery.

In 2023, as part of an ongoing collaboration aimed at solving the backlog of cold cases in Connecticut, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner partnered with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram will use Forensic-Grade Genomic Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile to generate new investigative leads for the case.

Anyone with information that could aid in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner by calling 860-679-3980 and referencing agency case M-86-341 or NamUs ID #UP14439.

A DNASolves crowdfund has been created to raise funds for the casework costs. Anyone can contribute here.

Contribute Now Your contributions pay for lab supplies and research tools

Director of Case Management

832-906-4247

2829 Technology Forest Blvd Suite 100, The Woodlands, Texas 77381

[email protected]

Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.