FITCHBURG — A proposed marijuana testing laboratory and two cultivation and manufacturing businesses gained unanimous approval from the city Tuesday.
ACT Labs and The Fresh Connection Boston recieved special permitting and site plan review from the Planning Board. Native Sun Wellness, a medical cultivator approved by the city last year, also gained approval to expand to recreational growing and manufacturing.
“(Testing) is a key industry type within the cannabis field we’re looking to get more of,” said Tom Skwierawski, executive director of the Community Development Department.
ACT Labs, the first proposed testing laboratory in the city, could open at 131 John Fitch Highway.
The company has labs all over the country and the Fitchburg location would be its first foray into Massachusetts, he said.
It was interested in the city because of its central location, which would be helpful to test products from marijuana businesses in Fitchburg and across the state, Skwierawski said.
The Fresh Connection Boston plans to open a grow and manufacturing facility in the basement of 175 Kimball St., which is where Fitchburg Access Television is located.
That space would be between 5,000 and 10,000 square feet, he said.
Native Sun Wellness plans to operate at 140 Industrial Road.
In the past, it floated the idea of opening a retail shop at the proposed site, which is near Montachusetts Vocational Technical School, Skwierawski said. At the Tuesday meeting company officials reiterated that they don’t plan to pursue that.
“For all intents and purposes, you wouldn’t know it’s in operation,” he said about the business’s goals for its facility.
With the new approvals, the current number of marijuana businesses that have been permited by the city is 17 , Skwierawski said.
Ten are for cultivators, three of which are medical facilities that are in operation, he said. Five retailers, one transporter, and one lab are the other types of establishments that have been permitted.
Several of those marijuana businesses have began working on their buildings as they wait on licensing from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.
Native Sun Wellness was given a provisional license for product manufacturing in April, according to the commission.
Garden Remedies at 307 Airport Road and Revolutionary Clinics at 1 Oak Hill Road have been growing medical marijuana in the city since 2017 expanded to recreational cultivation.
So far, they are the only marijuana businesses in the city that have gained final licensing from the city, according to the commission.
Eight is the maximum number of recreational marijuana retailers allowed in the city, but there is no cap for grow facilities or other types of establishments like transporters or testing laboratories.
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