►
Description
Liaison Name: John Romano
Host Neighborhood: Downtown
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021, 12.04 p.m.
Applicant Name: Pure Oasis LLC
Address: 85 Devonshire Street
License Type: Recreational Cannabis License
A
So
this
meeting
is
being
recorded
in
compliance
with
our
public
record
laws,
so
my
name
again
is
john
romano
from
the
mayor's
office
of
neighborhood
services.
Stepping
into
this
neighborhood
tonight
to
be
able
to
cover
for
my
colleague
what
we're
gonna
do
here
tonight
is
we're
gonna
hear
from
a
canvas
establishment.
I
have
a
spiel
that
I'm
gonna
walk
through
with
you
all,
but
essentially
what
I'd
like
to
mention
is
that,
at
the
beginning
of
this,
participants
are
muted
to
begin
with
throughout
the
whole
presentation.
A
At
the
end,
you'll
be
unmuted,
be
able
to
ask
any
questions,
comments
and
concerns.
I'm
gonna
go
through
the
list,
as
I
appear
as
they
appear
here
on
my
attendee
list.
Like
I
said
you
know,
I'm
from
the
mayor's
office
neighborhood
services,
you
know
we're
going
to
facilitate
this
statutorily
required
cannabis
meeting
cannabis
outreach
meeting.
This
is
an
application
by
the
team
here
for
a
retail
cannabis
dispensary
to
be
operated
at
85
devonshire
street.
A
Before
we
start,
I
would
like
to
go
over
my
expectations
for
tonight's
meeting
and
having
participated
in
multiple
meetings
of
this
kind.
I
know
that
this
can
be
a
sensitive
topic,
so
I
want
to
make
it
clear
that
no
decisions
are
being
made
tonight
and
at
no
time
will
it
be
acceptable
to
be
disrespectful
to
anyone
during
the
meeting.
A
A
I
ask
that
all
questions
be
directed
towards
the
applicant
and
myself
only
and
that
the
applicant
will
answer
all
questions
related
to
their
proposal
to
the
best
of
their
ability,
and
I
will
answer
questions
specific
to
the
city's
process
tonight.
If
either
of
us
are
unable
to
answer
any
of
your
questions,
we
will
follow
up
with
you
after
the
meeting
to
get
you
that
information.
A
This
is
an
open
comment
period,
meaning
that,
if
you
do
not
get
called
on
tonight
or
if
you
think
of
questions
that
have
not
been
answered,
all
you
need
to
do
is
reach
out
to
us
and
we
will
work
to
get
you
that
information.
My
contact
information
has
been
included
on
the
flyer
that
you
received
to
attend
tonight.
It's
also
john
j,
o
h,
n
period,
romano
r,
o
m,
a
n
o
at
boston.gov
I'll
ask
the
team
at
some
point.
A
A
B
So
at
this
time,
I'd
like
to
start
this
presentation,
as
I
said,
we'll
go
through
it,
but
I'll
reserve
most
of
my
time
at
the
end,
so
we
can
have
open
conversation
about
any
questions,
comments
or
concerns.
One
of
the
things
that
we're
looking
at
is
opening
up
in,
what's
called
a
major
market.
A
major
market
is,
you
know
certain
areas
of
boston
where
it's
not
as
easy
for
small
locally
owned
companies
to
get
access
to.
B
Vast
majority
of
of
owners
of
these
buildings
can't
even
begin
to
talk
to
a
couple
like
pure
oasis
regarding
operating
in
their
space
because
their
their
their
mortgage,
their
finance
companies,
won't
allow
for
it.
So
we
were
pretty
excited
when
we
found
this
location
and
the
landlord
was
willing
to
have
the
conversation
and
ultimately,
their
bank
acquiesced
and
allowed
us
to
start
the
process
of
entering
in
a
lease.
And
again,
this
property
is
85
devonshire
street
kevin
kevin.
Is
my
business
partner
we're
the
owners
of
pure
oasis?
B
Again
we
opened
last
year
we
were
boston's
first
cannabis
operator
we're
also
the
first
equity
applicant
in
the
state.
The
state
has
a
program
called
basically
it's
in
social
equity
program,
and
we
were
the
first
economic
empowerment
applicants
in
the
state
of
massachusetts
to
open
a
cannabis
dispensary.
B
So
again
our
company
was
opened
in
march
of
last
year.
Our
first
location
is
in
dorchester
and
again
again,
one
of
our
main
concerns.
When
we
open
our
company
open
door,
chester
was
being
a
good
community
partner,
and
we
worked
in
tandem
with
the
city
to
open
that
location
and
as
we
experienced
the
success
of
of
running
that
location,
having
no
issues
and
and
scaling
that
location
to
what
it
is.
B
B
This
is
a
rendering
of
what
the
our
architects
came
up
with
this
rendering
of
what
the
space
would
ultimately
look
like.
This
is
a
night
view.
What
we're
looking
at
is
using
paneling
inside
to
create
some
some
some
natural
barriers,
one
of
our
concerns
at
grove
hall
that
we
originally
were
concerned
about,
but
we
don't
necessarily
see
as
much
as
as
crowding
on
the
sidewalk
lines.
B
This
is
another
rendering
of
what
it
looks
like
to
come
inside
of
pure
oasis,
we're
going
to
have
basically
a
greeter.
If
you
will
that
will
check,
ids
ids
need
to
be
checked
before
you
can
get
inside
of
the
building,
and
this
is
a
rendering
of
what
it
will
look
like
inside
as
people
enter
and
exit,
but
before
they
can
enter,
they
have
to
have
their
ids
checked
again.
B
B
So
some
of
the
elements
that
you
see
here,
such
as
the
pillars
and
some
of
the
architectural
detail
and
lighting
around
the
ceiling,
already
exist,
so
we're
just
adding
to
that
with
a
point
of
sale
system
and
a
service
counter
again,
if
you
need,
we
can
make
this
presentation
available
and
you
can
have
access
to
it.
Just
to
see
some
of
the
finer
details.
This
is
probably
more
detailed
than
the
average
person
needs,
but
this
is
just
a
schematic
layout
of
the
inside
of
the
space.
B
It
feels
like
a
five
years
of
any
other
business,
just
based
on
the
amount
of
issues
that
we
have
to
address
before
they
become
problems,
and
so
we
have
a
great
relationship
with
the
state
in
this
cannabis
control
commission
and
we
really
strive
to
have
a
first
class
business
and
I
think
that
we
are
slowly
getting
there
and
I
think
that
you
know
as
we
get
into
our
next
door
and
our
next.
You
know
our
next
vertical
our
next
operation.
We
will
have
achieved
that
world-class,
feel,
look
and
feel
that
we're
aiming
for.
B
B
We
treat
our
customers
well,
we
treat
our
employees
well,
we
treat
our
business
partners
well
and
we
enjoy
that
and
we're
looking
to
expand
on
that
with
our
next
location.
Security
is
a
big
concern
for
us,
as
mandated
by
the
state,
the
cannabis
control
commission,
we're
happy
to
say
that
you
know.
We've
had
minimal
issues
in
grove
hall
and
also
you
know
in
in
working
with
some
of
our
vendors
around
security.
We've
learned
a
lot
and
we
know
how
to
address
possible
issues
before
or
address
issues
before
they've
become
problems.
B
We
work
closely
with
boston
police
department
and
again
our
alarm
company,
as
well
as
our
video
surveillance
company,
we're
always
improving
the
system
just
to
make
sure
that
we
have
redundancies
and
that
we
exceed
the
threshold
set
by
the
cannabis
control.
Commission
security
is
paramount
to
us
because
we
want
to
keep
our
staff
safe,
our
products
safe.
We
want
to
make
sure
that
none
of
our
product
is
ending
up
in
the
hands
of
someone
who's
under
21
or
someone
who
shouldn't
have
legal
access
to
it.
B
So
we
we're
learning
the
nuances
of
the
industry
and
constantly
improving
on
them.
One
of
the
big
concerns
we
originally
had,
especially
being
in
dorchester,
was
just
loitering.
I
think
that
people
have
a
when
they
reference
something
like
canvas,
they
think
of
a
liquor
store
where
you
have
people
who
are
buying.
You
know
small
amounts
of
alcohol
and
standing
around
and
drinking,
and
so
we
were
super
concerned.
We
were
hyper
concerned
about
lawyering
when
we
first
opened.
B
B
People
have
jobs
because
they
need
to
have
income
in
order
to
afford
to
to
purchase
cannabis
and
with
that
they
just
don't
have
the
lifestyle
where
they
want
to
either
be
seen
standing
around
smoking
or
possibly
be
arrested
for
standing
around
smoking.
So
loitering
has
really
never
been
an
issue,
thankfully,
but
I
know
that
that
is
a
concern
when
we're
opening
grove
hall
and
I'm
sure
that's
going
to
be
a
concern
in
downtown
and
thankfully
you
know
we
can
report
that
with
this
particular
product
people.
Just
we
just
don't
have
that
issue.
B
And
again
we
haven't
had
any
issues
like
that,
but
we
don't
want
to
rest
on
that.
We
really
want
to
be
proactive
and
making
sure
we
have
a
presence
inside
the
store
outside
the
store,
watching
our
video
cameras
just
to
see
if
there's
anything
that
doesn't
look
normal
and
we
also
always
put
out
memos
just
reinforcing
you
know
to
be
on
the
lookout
of
anything
that
looks
suspicious.
B
One
of
the
things
that
we've
been
very
successful
is
giving
people
second
chances.
You
know
jobs
are
jobs,
but
when
you
hire
someone
who
has
a
hard
time,
you
know
working
at
target
because
they
have
maybe
been
arrested
for
cannabis
or
they
couldn't
pass
a
drug
test.
Those
employees
become
some
of
your
most
valuable
employees
because
they
recognize
the
fact
that
they're
getting
a
second
chance,
they're
passionate
about
what
they
do,
because
they're
doing
something
that
they
actually
love,
and
so
it's
always
kind
of
prideful.
B
For
us
when
we
do
hire
people
who
are
excited
about
working
for
us,
because
they
know
our
reputation,
they
know
the
industry
and
they
want
to
be
part
of
it.
It
it.
It
makes
us
feel
good
and
it
it's
just
kind
of
back
and
forth
where
our
staff
are
appreciative
of
the
opportunity,
and
we
just
had
you
know
a
little
event
at
the
store
the
other
day,
and
you
know
just
hearing
staff
saying
that
they
love
working
for
us,
that
that
is
its
own
reward
and
what
we
do.
B
But
we
like
finding
people
who
have
stories,
and
you
know
who
we
can
go
out
on
a
limb
for
it
just
to
see
if
it
works
out,
because
we
do
believe
in
giving
people
second
chances
and
that
kind
of
is
what
drives
us.
As
an
organization
community
is
key,
I'm
a
lifelong
bostonian,
where
I,
where
we
have
our
store
now
in
in
dorchester.
B
I
grew
up
in
that
neighborhood,
so
it
meant
a
lot
for
me
to
open
in
grove
hall,
because
I
was-
and
I
still
see
people
on
a
daily
basis.
That
know
me.
They
know
my
family,
and
so
I
want
to
be
able
to
hold
up
to
any
expectations
of
of
being
a
good
neighbor
of
being
a
good
community
partner,
and
so
anywhere
we
go
in
the
city.
We
want
to
be
able
to
wear
our
puruses,
pure
oasis
shirts
and
to
be
able
to
walk
proudly
through
boston
to
let
people
know
that.
B
Yes,
we
work
for
pure
oasis
and
also
to
be
able
to
you
know
represent
a
brand
that
that
that
stands
for
supporting
community
and
giving
back
and
so
community
is
always
going
to
be
important.
For
us,
because,
as
we
look
to
expand,
we
want
to
make
sure
that
our
name
hasn't
been
tarnished
with
something
that
is
unsavory
social
justice.
B
One
of
the
keys
that
kind
of
got
us
started
was
our
relationship
with
someone
like
ayanna
presley,
who
really
kind
of
paved
the
way
for
the
ballot
measure
to
become
a
law
that
created
the
whole
cannabis
industry
in
massachusetts.
And
you
know
we
had
the
pleasure
of
her
stopping
by
the
store
over
the
summer
just
to
check
on
us
to
see
how
everything
was
going.
B
But
you
know
we
believe
strongly
in
social
justice
kevin
and
I
come
from
you-
know-
kind
of
inner
city
backgrounds
growing
up
in
poverty,
and
so
this
means
a
lot
to
be
able
to
get
into
this
industry,
but
also
just
to
give
back
and
to
show
others
what
it's
like
to
be
able
to
open
the
dispensary
in
of
all
neighborhoods.
You
know
dorchester,
where
you
know
this
used
to
be
over
police
and
now
it's
illegal,
and
you
know
that's.
B
B
So
we
know
the
problems
or
issues
to
avoid
before
they
even
become
you
know
more
than
an
issue.
So
I
think
that
when
it
comes
to
deciding
who
is
who,
in
this
in
boston,
someone
who
has
the
experience
that
kevin-
and
I
have
you
know
it
stands
out
wrapped
up
and
at
this
time
I'd
like
to
open
it
up
for
questions.
B
A
We
appreciate
you
and
your
team's
presentation
here
tonight,
so
one
thing
I
want
to
do
before
we
start
taking
questions
and
comments
from
the
participants
here,
just
to
remind
everyone
again
that
we're
looking
for
this
to
be
obviously
a
respectful.
You
know
discussion
or
special,
respectful
period.
If
you
don't
get
your
chance
for
your
question
or
comment
to
be
asked
tonight,
you
can
always
reach
out
to
myself
and
the
team,
as
well
as
the
cannabis
board,
to
be
able
to
get
your
question
answered.
C
A
D
B
Sure
that's
a
great
question.
I
think
that
you
know,
I
think
one
of
the
things
that
I've
seen
is
you
know,
even
in
my
personal
experiences,
you
know
someone
you
know
at
ten
o'clock
at
night
standing
around
on
the
corner
waiting
for
you
know
someone
to
drop
off
a
package
of
illegal
cannabis
and
to
this
date
it
has
never
really
been
the
safest
exchange
ever
and
especially
when
you
have
things
like
fentanyl
and
other
chemicals
that
are
being
mixed
in
with
illegal
drugs.
E
D
So,
like
with
your
pricing
like
how
do
you
think
that
you
would
be
able
to
compete
with
the
black
market
cannabis
exchange,
because
I
I
know
that
their
rates
are
probably
lower
than
like
the
federal
cannabis
rates
in
other
and
other
dispensaries
so
like?
How
would
you
kind
of
get
more
people
to
buy
cannabis
legally,
as
opposed
to
buying
it
illegally?.
B
Yeah,
I
think
that
you
know
that's
a
that's
another
great
question
and
I'm
not
sure
that
we
ever
actually
will
be
able
to
compete
on
that
level,
because
you
know
there
are
very.
There
are
differences
that
go
into
when
we
produce
cannabis
versus
when
someone
produces
it
in
mexico
or
in
another
country
or
in
in
another
state
and
ships
it
here,
they
don't
have
to
advi
abide
by
restrictions
regarding
pesticides
or
the
fact
that
their
water
has
to
be
our
water
has
to
you
know,
meet
certain
standards.
They
don't
have
to
abide
by
that.
B
So
I
don't
think
that
we're
ever
going
to
be
able
to
compete
with
that.
But
what
we,
where
we
do
compete
is
being
able
to
walk
into
a
retail
store
to
speak
with
someone
who
is
knowledgeable
about
the
product
to
have
more
than
one
option
and
to
create
some
safety
standards
around
a
the
exchange
and
be
the
actual
product.
You
know
there
are
some
people
who
will
always
go
to
the
illicit
market
because
it's
convenient
and
the
price
is
right
and
then
there
are
those
who
want.
B
B
B
B
A
In
thank
you
there
we're
going
to
move
on.
If
you
do
have
any
other
questions
or
comments,
I
would
just
suggest
reaching
out
to
us
from
there,
but
I
do
want
to
make
sure
that
we
get
to
some
other
people
tonight
as
well.
So
alanis
proside
alanis,
are
you
I
mean.
Do
you
have
any
questions,
comments
or
concerns.
F
B
That's
a
good
question:
that's
more
of
a
political
science
201
question,
but
it
really
has
to
drill
down
to
you
know
the
united
states
has
has
has
you
know
we
have
states
rights
and
within
states
rights
you
have
counties
and
cities
and
towns
and
everyone.
You
know
whether
you
are
you
know
a
10
person,
town
to
a
million
person
state.
B
You
know
the
10
person
town
has
to
sign
off
on
it,
and
you
know
we
just
haven't
had
the
type
of
progressive
leaders
who
are
willing
to
look
at
it
in
a
different
lens
or
to
put
their
neck
out
there
to
risk
being
not
re-elected
because
they
support
you
know:
drugs.
We've,
we've,
the
the
the
war
on
drugs
campaign
was,
was
super
successful
and
to
try
and
counter
that
narrative
with
all
of
a
sudden.
You
know
drugs
aren't
so
bad
that
that's
a
that's.
B
A
heavy
lift
and
people
didn't
really
lawmakers
didn't
really
get
on
board
in
terms
of
okay.
We
want
to
be
progressive.
The
impetus
really
was
more
so
hey,
there's
some
revenue
here
and
we're
struggling
for
revenue.
So
you
know
whether
or
not
is
good.
We
really
can't
prove
that
is
bad,
but
we
can
prove
that
we
need
this
revenue
from
it.
So,
let's
you
know,
do
a
cash
grab,
so
I
think
it
was
more
about
the
revenue
part
of
it
that
is
legal
and
less
about
the
stigmatization
or
any
concerns
about.
B
Yeah,
so
when
you
know
I,
I
supported
her
campaign
when
she
ran
for
city
councilor
years
ago,
and
so
when
they
wrote
the
the
ballot
measure
that
ultimately
became
a
law,
they
wrote
it
from
the
frame
of
those
who
you
know
what
I
told
her.
You
know,
which
you
know
we
both
acknowledge
is
you
know
the
lens
was
those
who
were
closest
to
the
pain
should
be
closest
to
the
prophets,
and
so
she
she,
you
know
she
acknowledged.
B
B
It
was
to
create
pathways
for
people
like
kevin,
and
I
who
grew
up
you
know
with
this
lived
experience
in
inner
city
communities
that
once
that
that
the
voters
would
vote
to
legalize
and
once
that
happened,
people
like
kevin
and
I
would
have
the
opportunity
to
get
involved,
and
so
we
stayed
in
contact
with
her
and
she
gave
us
contacts
of
a
particular.
I
think
is
the
first
black
owned
or
female
woman
person
of
color
who
owned
his
own,
the
dispensary
out
in
denver.
B
You
know,
but
I
think
that
you
know,
as
as
you
have
counselor
presley
in
congress
as
a
representative
part
of
the
the
progressive
movement
they're
still
looking
at
at
pathways,
whether
it
be
you
know,
legalization
or
other
things
that
can
help
people
from
different
communities
and
really
engaging
in
in
the
whole
political
fight.
If
you
will.
E
A
G
H
A
I
So
not
only
do
we
feel
that
this
goes
towards
equity,
as
kobe
said.
Unfortunately,
many
proposals
and
shops
don't
end
up
opening,
and
so
they
searched
for
a
long
time
to
find
a
site
that
was
not
near
any
vulnerable
populations
not
near
any
schools
did
their
best
due
diligence
and
they're
also
bringing
the
experience
of
having
an
open
shop
so
that
the
downtown
can
feel
comfortable
with
its
operator.
It's
not
aspirational,
it's
not
a
high-risk
endeavor.
It
is
operating
in
a
densely
packed
neighborhood
now
without
issue.
A
C
A
J
C
A
J
B
What
we've
learned
over
time
is
that
we
don't
generally
create
new
traffic
for
the
most
part.
What
we
do
is
service.
You
know
existing
traffic
downtown
and
a
coupler,
a
couple
of
other
locations
in
boston,
the
seaport,
faneuil
hall
back
bay
south
end
have
a
high
traffic
count,
and
so,
when
someone
like
pure
oasis
or
another
dispensary
goes
into
a
neighborhood,
the
realization
is
that
we're
not
enhancing
we're,
not
creating
more
traffic,
we're
just
leveraging
the
existing
foot
traffic.
That's
there.
B
Ultimately,
what
you'll
see
throughout
the
city
based
on
the
trajectory
of
licenses
is
that
people
from
the
south
end
will
have
a
dispensary
in
their
neighborhood
and
they
won't
have
to
go
to
back
bay.
Brighton
won't
have
to
go
to
austin,
so
you
won't
necessarily
see
people
from
south
end
go
to
downtown.
B
The
consensus
is
that
if
you
have
a
blanket
approach
to
the
way
that
you
roll
these
out
across
the
city,
you're
not
going
to
have
a
situation
where
everyone
is
going
to
downtown,
everyone
is
going
to
south
end
because
those
are
the
only
two
locations.
So
ultimately,
what
the
with
the
plan
that
the
city
has
there?
There
won't
be
this
spike
in
traffic,
it
will
be
the
normal
traffic,
but
now
you
just
have
a
dispensary
in
that
neighborhood.
J
B
B
You
can
go
to
one
in
charlestown,
you
know
you
can
go
to
one,
maybe
one.
If
you
come
off
the
highway,
there'll
be
one
in
the
seaport.
You
know
the
way
the
city
should
ultimately
be
laid
out.
Wherever
your
final
destination
is
more
than
likely,
there
should
be
a
just
a
dispensary
within
you
know,
a
mile
of
that
ultimate
location.
A
A
G
I'm
well
thanks
hi.
This
is,
I
just
want
to
clarify.
This
is
rose
boardman.
I
am
the
chief
financial
officer
for
the
downtown
boston,
business,
improvement,
district,
kobe
and
kevin.
Thank
you
for
the
very
thoughtful
presentation
and
approach
to
85
devonshire
street.
We
look
forward
to
our
continued
conversations
with
you,
we're
here
tonight.
G
G
I
don't
believe
we
talked
about
this
during
our
first
conversation
but,
as
you
may
be
aware,
we
run
the
ambassador
program
for
the
downtown
boston,
downtown
crossing
area.
We
have
50
uniformed
employees
who
clean
and
give
directions
and
haul
trash
and
do
just
yeoman's
work
all
through
the
all
through
the
pandemic.
B
K
G
K
A
A
I
will
note
here,
and
so
there
was
a
present
jennifer
put
in
the
chat
here.
I
just
want
to
read
out
the
chat
that
there's
it's
not
a
question,
but
wanted
to
note
that
I'm
here,
representing
like
herself
with
the
landlord
they
weren't
able
to
say
this
at
the
time
when
they
were
muted
or
unmuted,
but
they've
been
very
impressed
with
pure
oasis
and
wanted
to
voice
that
as
well
like
to
always
just
make
sure.
I
read
out
comments
into
the
record
too
here.
A
I
just
want
a
voice
here
too,
all
right.
So
what
I
will
do
here
is
again,
so
we
have
everyone
here
spoken
tonight
has
had
a
chance
to
ask
questions,
comments
or
concerns.
This
is
again,
as
we
mentioned
before,
is
not
the
end
of
your
chance
to
be
able
to
reach
out
for
questions
comments
concerns
my
information
is
john
j,
o
h
n
period,
romano
like
ray
romano,
which
is
not
as
funny
r-o-m-a-n-o
at
boston.gov,
feel
free
to
reach
out
to
me
at
any
time.