This Google map shows 90 Pershing Drive at the bottom middle. Also visible is Pershing Drive, Route 8 access and the Metro-North railroad line.
DERBY — Members of the city’s planning and zoning commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a retail marijuana shop for 90 Pershing Drive.
It’s the first facility of its kind to be approved in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, or Shelton.
The address is currently home to Italian Pavilion, a Derby staple.
The plan is to convert the front of the 6,000 square-foot building into a marijuana shop. The rear of the building will be home to a smaller version of the Italian Pavilion. The two businesses will have separate entrances and exits.
The location allows easy access to Route 8 south and will be directly accessible from Route 8 north.
An image from the site plan.
The sale of recreational marijuana became legal on Jan. 10, 2023. Click here for a list and map of licensed retailers.
Between January 2023 and December 2023, recreational adult-use cannabis and medical marijuana sales totaled more than $274 million.
The name of the new Derby shop isn’t known yet, nor when it will open, according to David Salinas, the CEO of Let’s Grow Hartford, LLC in New Haven.
Salinas, a Milford resident, launched Digital Surgeons, a digital marketing agency, in 2007. The company’s clients included Lady Gaga and Barney’s.
Salinas successfully transformed an old bus depot in New Haven into “District,” a 9‑acre, $25 million campus that is home to 500 startup companies. Click here to learn more.
Salinas told The Valley Indy he sees great potential in both the cannabis industry and the City of Derby.
“We’re not owned by a corporation. I live down the road in Milford. Our goal is to be a local company,” Salinas said.
At retail marijuana outlets in Connecticut, orders are placed online and then picked up at the location. Customers pay in cash.
Salinas said the Derby marijuana store will employ about 30 people total, a mix of full-time and part-time employees. He said the exact number depends on how busy the location gets. Most positions will pay between $18 and $20 per hour.
Salinas submitted a statement of use to the planning commission stating seven employees and a security guard will be on site during the hours of operation, which will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Italian Pavilion currently has 94 parking spaces — 20 of those will go toward the marijuana shop, which will be about 3,100 square feet.
Smoking is not allowed on the property, and the security system will be dictated by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection — the agency that created the recreational marijuana rules in Connecticut. It will include both a wired and wireless security system, along with motion, heat and laser sensors. No cannabis product will be left in the store when it is closed, and security cameras will be everywhere. Footage from those cameras will be kept for 30 days in a tamper-proof environment.
Several members of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission — the group that wrote the rules dictating where such businesses can open in Derby — said Pershing Drive is a perfect location.
Because the use is allowed in Derby zoning, no public hearing was held on the site plan application. The application was listed under “new business” and approved the same night it was presented.
The new shop will be tucked away in the southern corner next to Red Raider Plaza, a commercial center home to a gym and several fast food joints. Then there’s a Starbucks, an Aldi’s, along with several other commercial storefronts on separate lots that share parking lots.
Alderwoman Sarah Widomski and commissioner David Kopjanski noted that navigating the parking lot can be challenging. That could get tougher with another 200 to 400 people going to the retail weed shop each day.
Ted Estwan, chairman of the Derby P&Z, noted the city tried to get another access point to the shopping center off Pershing Drive, but the state would not allow it. The set up is sort of stuck as is, commissioners noted, with a Route 8 on off ramp on one side and train tracks on the other.
According to documents submitted to Derby City Hall, Salinas’ shop will lease its space.
Mario Perone, the property owner, wrote a letter to the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission in support of the project.
“David Salinas is a family friend and I have found him to be a person of integrity and dedication,” Perone said. “He has a proven track record of being a responsible business owner who respects community values and standards.”
The Pershing Drive shopping center has been redeveloped extensively in the last 15 years. It was previously home to Valley Bowl and Charlton Comics.
