NORTH ADAMS — The long-closed building at 31 Union St., formerly the home of Grandmother’s Tavern, may be open for business again — this time as a cannabis dispensary. Some say its proximity to an elementary school is a deal breaker.
Potential proprietor Barbara Canale-Schmidt first needs an exemption to a state law barring dispensaries from being situated within 500 feet of a school. The building at 31 Union St. is 225 feet away from Colegrove Park Elementary School.
“Basically what I’ll be asking for is to reduce the distance from the school because I only have 225 feet,” Canale-Schmidt told the planning board on Monday.
The downtown building between McDonald’s and Aubuchon Hardware could be used as a cannabis dispensary, pending necessary approvals from the city and state. Planning Board Chair Brian Miksic said that Canale-Schmidt, who has worked in the plastics and pharmaceuticals fields, and her husband Karl Schmidt, who she described as the “28-year proprietor of Grandmother’s Tavern, with a liquor license in good standing,” have kept antiques and other collectible items in the space for a while.
“Both him and his wife are collectors of antiques, and it’s mostly full of amazing things,” Miksic said. “We operated a music