Vermont clears cultivation licensing backlog

Vermont cannabis regulators have cleared their backlog of midtier cultivation license applications ahead of a temporary pause in new permits designed to deal with saturation concerns.

“All of the Tier 2’s that were in the queue have completed their applications and are being recommended for approval,” Cannabis Control Board Chairman James Pepper said at an Oct. 30 board meeting, according to GreenMountain Cannabis News.

It comes after a temporary freeze on new retail and certain cultivation licenses in the state was announced in September. Retailers have until Nov. 15 to complete pending applications before the pause takes effect.

Concerns remain about the concentration of cannabis businesses in Vermont, where about 70% of municipalities have prohibited retail marijuana shops. The state currently has 77 licensed cannabis retailers, according to the agency’s licensing data as of October.

Pepper previously indicated that the board will reopen license applications once it adopts new rules meant to ensure there aren’t too many clusters of marijuana shops in places that opted in. State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year that ordered the agency to create rules that “increase the geographic distribution of new cannabis retail establishments based on population and market needs.”

“We know that the unnatural distribution of retail outlets is the inevitable outcome of the legislature’s decision to disallow retail in towns that haven’t proactively voted to allow them,” Pepper said at the board meeting, according to the outlet.

While the pause affects retail applicants and Tier 2 cultivators – which operate grows up to 2,500 square feet – smaller Tier 1 indoor cultivation licenses should still be available. The board said in September that seasonal outdoor and mixed-light applications will reopen in November.

In August, regulators also introduced a new “propagation” license category focused on seed production and cloning operations, with facilities limited to 3,500 square feet.

The state is also building out its social equity program, with 87 of Vermont’s 564 cannabis business permits currently held by social equity licensees. A working group faces a Jan. 15 deadline to recommend how to allocate cannabis tax revenue through the Cannabis Business Development Fund, which held about $1 million in August.