The Town of Wawarsing Planning Board gave the green light for the nearly $9 million project at its March 15th meeting.
The planning approval process “went quicker than most projects,” said Ulster County Director of Economic Development Tim Weidemann.
Cresco Labs in August proposed taking over the former Schrade Knife and Avnet Channel Master facilities in Wawarsing to create a marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution plant on the 91-acre lot that has sat empty for 17 years.
The applicant for the marijuana facility in Wawarsing is Valley Agriceuticals, LLC, which currently operates a medical marijuana manufacturing facility in the Town of Wallkill and four medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.
Cresco originally forecasted creating 300 to 400 jobs at the processing plant, but increased that estimate to up to 679 future employees, as outlined in the approved proposal.
In another effort to block odors from escaping outside, the proposal indicates the installation of air “curtains” at significant external doorways, which use forced air to create a pressurized barrier between interior and exterior air.
Riverkeeper also expressed concern about the new facility, specifically impacts on wastewater at the nearby Naponach Wastewater Treatment Facility from potential pollutants that could infiltrate nearby waterways like the Rondout Creek and Hudson River.
Cresco Labs needs to work with the Cannabis Control Board and the Office of Cannabis Management to secure an adult-use license for vertically integrated operation that includes cultivation, processing and distribution, but not sales.
Cloey Callahan is a lifelong Hudson Valley resident who was born and raised in Brewster, lived in New Paltz for four years while she attended college, and now resides in Newburgh on Liberty Street.