SAUGUS — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to issue a special permit to Sanctuary Medicinals to open a recreational cannabis dispensary in town at the site of the former 99 restaurant – drawing to a close a saga, at least for the time being that has stretched throughout the entire calendar year.

The other six proposals before the selectmen were all voted down, with members failing to reach unanimity on any of the applications from Broadway Cannabis, Bostica, NortheastCann, Olde World Remedies, Triple M, and Uma Flowers. Only Sanctuary will have the permit necessary to begin negotiations with Town Manager Scott Crabtree on a Host Community Agreement.

Jeff Cicolini, the board’s vice chair, recused himself from the hearings because one of the companies does business with the accounting firm he works for. As a result, companies had to acquire the votes of all four participating members.

Sanctuary was one of two companies recommended by the Marijuana Establishment Review Committee convened by Crabtree earlier this year to review the responses each company submitted to a Request for Information issued by his office in January. Uma Flowers was that committee’s unanimous top selection, but Selectman Anthony Cogliano emerged as a staunch opponent to the company’s proposal, ultimately casting the lone vote to deny the permit to the company.

Aside from Sanctuary, Uma was the only company to garner more than two votes, as only Chairman Debra Panetta and Selectman Michael Serino backed those proposals.

Panetta, in an interview following the hearing, said she believed Sanctuary offered clear and good traffic flow and ample parking. However, she emphasized her belief, supported by a legal opinion from Town Counsel John Vasapolli, that the board’s role was only to review the proposed locations. And, Sanctuary, at 181 Broadway, clearly offered something others could not for selectmen.

“I think they’ll be successful,” she said.

A representative from the company declined to comment on the vote.

Selectmen first convened to hear from each of the seven companies in September, doing so throughout two nights as each company gave detailed presentations to members. And, on Tuesday, many companies made last-ditch sales pitches to board members, who appeared to have entered the hearings with their minds made up.

At one point, after it became clear that Serino and Panetta intended to deny their application, Triple M asked to withdraw, which would have allowed them to reapply later, only for that motion to fail.

Over the course of the evening, Cogliano grew increasingly frustrated and said Tuesday night’s outcome was pre-determined. He doubled down on his criticisms of the report, particularly Crabtree’s repeated failure to address any questions regarding the document or convene the committee members to do so.

“We are the Board of Selectmen, and we got a report we’re not allowed to ask questions on,” Cogliano said. “We were kept in the dark until we were handed a report. It’s my biggest frustration over the entire process.”

For his part, Crabtree has said doing so would violate the legal requirements surrounding the RFI.

Cogliano, the architect of the zoning bylaw to permit cannabis in Saugus, said he urged Town Meeting to let marijuana into Saugus’ borders to boost revenue for the town. Despite that rhetoric, he remained staunch in his opposition to Uma even after it became the lone remaining contender.
“I’m not going to be boxed into a vote,” he said.