By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — Four medical marijuana companies have filed plans to open a clinic in the city.
The applicants include New England Patient Network Inc. of East Boston, Marblehead-based Old World Remedies, NS AJO Holdings Inc. of Colorado and the Massachusetts Patient Foundation, which operates facilities out of state.
The public will be able to hear presentations by the bidders and ask questions at a city council hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13. Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and the council have said the city will accommodate one or two clinics.
Alan Rothenberg, a Marblehead entrepreneur who has launched a dozen companies, founded Old World Remedies and plans to open a shop at 953 Western Ave. Under the terms of the application, all profits would be donated to Trouble the Dog, a local nonprofit that benefits children, he said.
“I’ve always been conscious of my community,” he said. “I will personally meet with anyone who has concerns.”
NS AJO Holdings Inc., which has a clinic in Colorado, plans to open a facility at 1069 Western Ave.
Company CEO Aidan O’Donovan, said if approved, he plans to move to Massachusetts.
“We want a presence on the North Shore, an area that is underserved,” he said. “We think the clinic would be mutually beneficial in a city that is struggling financially.”
Daniel Ross Karten, COO of the Massachusetts Patient Foundation, said he did not know his clinic location and his attorney declined to provide the address.
The New England Patient Network Inc. of East Boston has joined with former City Councilor Paul Crowley, trustee of the Lynnway Sportscenter, a 12,000-square-foot facility at 497 Lynnway, to change the use of the center to a medical marijuana clinic.
One original applicant is no longer in contention. Patrick McGrath, owner of the Lynnway Mart Indoor Mall & Flea Market, told the city council last summer that he wanted to own and operate one of the clinics at his property at 491 Lynnway, has since changed his mind.
“I have a lot on my plate and decided not to proceed,” he said. In September, James Lamanna, the city’s attorney, wrote the 19-page request for proposals for medical marijuana treatment centers. The city asked applicants who complied with the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) regulations to submit an application. Applicants will be required to negotiate a host agreement that will provide the city with funds, guarantees of safety and assurances that the products will not be sold to minors.
Earlier this year, the city council approved a plan to bring two medical marijuana clinics to the city. Under the ordinance, the treatment center district would include the non-waterfront side of the Lynnway from Market Street to the General Edwards Bridge, two sites on Commercial Street and all properties on Route 107 from the Belden Bly Bridge to the intersection of Western and Murphy avenues.
Massachusetts voters legalized medical marijuana in 2012. Marijuana for recreational use was approved in by ballot in November’s elections.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].