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Committee approves Blue Fox Brands amendment to add C1D1 extraction booths, conditions fire permits before operation
Summary
The ordinance committee approved an amendment to Blue Fox Brands' special permit at 1 Cabot Street to add two certified extraction booths (C1D1), subject to obtaining Holyoke Fire Department permits and inspections before any extraction operations begin.
The Holyoke Ordinance Committee approved a special-permit amendment enabling Blue Fox Brands, at 1 Cabot Street, to install two modular, C1D1-rated extraction rooms inside its existing manufacturing space, subject to fire-permit approval and related inspections prior to operation.
Ezra Biersbach, representing Blue Fox Brands, told the committee the addition comprises two factory-built steel rooms—approximately 300 and 100 square feet—that are sealed "clean rooms" with explosion-proof glazing and dedicated venting to the roof line, and that the rooms will be used as closed-loop extraction booths. He said the rooms are designed with alarms and rapid-exhaust ventilation so that any leak would trigger extraction of the room air to the roof in accordance with fire-code requirements.
Biersbach explained there is no exterior work, the extraction booths fit within existing building square footage, and the most important subsequent permit will be the fire-permit review because extraction involves flammable liquids. He said the fire department prefers the special-permit step first; the committee clarified that fire permits and inspections remain required before extraction work begins.
Committee members asked about employee counts and parking; Biersbach said Blue Fox Brands currently had 19 employees and the extraction addition would add one more, bringing the total to 20, which fits the existing parking calculation (seven spaces shown on the site plan).
The committee closed the public hearing on the amendment and approved the amendment on the condition that Blue Fox obtain and submit required Holyoke Fire Department permits and inspections before commencing operations. The committee also voted to apply the seven standard special-permit conditions (local tax, hiring preferences, hours, no onsite consumption, state CCC compliance, health rules, two-year substantial-progress requirement) and to attach them to both Blue Fox and the Mass Cannabis approval.
The committee and applicants noted that even after the committee’s action, state Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) and local fire and police approvals are separate prerequisites to operation; the committee’s condition mirrors the state and local permitting structure.
Next steps: Blue Fox must apply to the Holyoke Fire Department for C1D1 permitting and demonstrate code compliance and approved venting; then state CCC review and other permits remain required before extraction can occur on site.
