As many Connecticut towns take a wait-and-see approach to recreational marijuana — passing a moratorium to allow 6 months to a year to evaluate the situation — other towns are moving more quickly in an effort to provide clarity and allow preparations for potential applicants to enter the state lottery for growing and retail licenses next year. Laurie Zrenda, the former owner of the medical marijuana dispensary Thames Valley Relief in Uncasville, has taken a pro-active approach in hopes of securing a state permit to operate a recreational marijuana dispensary in her hometown of East Lyme. Zrenda said she bought a property on Colton Road — just south of Interstate 95 at exit 71 — a few months ago. Zredna said she was careful to find a spot that wasn’t in a residential area, and that wouldn’t contribute to the notorious traffic around exits 74 and 75. Zrenda also applied to allow marijuana dispensaries by special permit in East Lyme’s light industrial zones — a proposal that gained the approval of the East Lyme Planning Commission and could be considered by the town’s Zoning Commission as early as its meeting this Thursday evening.
CT Examiner, 10/06/2021