Seybridge Plaza in Seymour.
SEYMOUR – A recreational marijuana retailer is being planned at the former Trilogy restaurant in the Seybridge Plaza at 39 New Haven Road.
Renovations are underway. Plaza owner Joe Nesteriak said the shop could open in March. He declined further comment.
Earlier this month Derby’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a site plan for a cannabis shop on 90 Pershing Drive. It’ll be built within what now houses Italian Pavilion. That restaurant will remain in business, but it will be much smaller.
The Seymour shop, which The Valley Indy learned about from a reader on Facebook, is on track to open earlier than the Derby shop.
The Derby shop is being done by Let’s Grow Hartford, LLC in New Haven.
The Seymour cannabis business is by Divine 1, LLC, based out of Bensalem, Pa. Divine 1’s owner is listed as Dharini Patel.
The Valley Indy left several text messages and emails last week to a company representative, Alex Ostendorf, for more information about the new store, but did not hear back.
Divine 1 is a busy cannabis company.
It submitted more than 2,000 license applications to the state’s lottery system to determine the first cannabis retailers, according to The Hartford Business Journal.
The business began pulling permits to convert the old Trilogy space in the fall of 2023, according to the Seymour building department.
Because the space is already zoned for commercial/retail use, the business wasn’t required to go before the town’s planning and zoning commission, according to First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis.
Seybridge Plaza houses several businesses, including Hot Tamale’s Mexican Grill and Bar, Seymour Veterinary Hospital, Dunkin Donuts, Sacred Art Tattoo and Seybridge Pharmacy.
Trilogy went out of business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.
Drugonis said the store will be a financial benefit to the town.
“From a financial standpoint, it’s a great thing, because the town gets a percentage of the sales,” she said. “The state made (marijuana) legal, but we have regulations in place. You can’t be out in public places in town, smoking it.”
According to the state Department of Consumer Protection, Divine 1 received a provisional license from the state in October 2022 to open a cannabis dispensary. DCP spokesperson Kaitlyn Krasselt said a final license is required before the store can sell the product.
A final license could be issued upon inspection of the store by the DCP’s Drug Control Division once it’s ready to open, according to Krasselt.
Krasselt said the Seymour store would be selling adult-use recreational cannabis, and not medical marijuana.
The sale of recreational marijuana became legal in Connecticut on Jan. 10, 2023. Between January 2023 and December 2023, recreational adult-use cannabis and medical marijuana sales totaled more than $274 million.
The Board of Selectpersons in March 2022 approved an ordinance that prohibits people from smoking or consuming marijuana in public places, which includes town-owned property, such as sidewalks, parks, fields, playgrounds and municipal buildings. The ordinance also bans smoking pot in outdoor sections of restaurants in town.
Individuals found in violation of the ordinance face fines of $50 fine. Businesses face fines of $1,000.
