The fate of a proposed $40 million cannabis production facility may be determined when the Alden Town Board meets on Nov. 3.
That's when the five-member Alden board will consider a number of measures needed for the project to advance on the property of the century-old, but long vacant Erie County Home & Infirmary on Walden Avenue.
And, at $40 million - the project is the largest private sector-backed development in Alden's recent memory.
It will also return the 152-acre complex back to the Alden tax rolls for the first time ever.
The project, being championed by a development led by brothers Luke and Ryan Rich, scions to the Rich Products Corp. family - although the development is completely separate from Rich Products.
Their proposal:
Build a 57,000-square-foot greenhouse that will grow only cannabis flower products, which will be sold - wholesale only - to cannabis retailers across New York state. No dispensary is planned for the site, said Ryan Rich.
The greenhouse operation may employ 70 people initially but total employment could balloon to more than 150 workers in the coming years.
"We believe in Alden and its people," Ryan Rich said.
The project, which has been in Alden's economic development pipeline since early summer, was the subject of a 130-minute long Oct. 6 public hearing, with more than 25 speakers voicing their concerns about the project.
Chief among the concerns were environmental issues - virtually all of which were addressed by the development team during a lengthy Oct. 20 Alden Town Board work session.
If all the approvals are granted during the Nov. 3 meeting, some pre-construction work could start this fall and the entire project may ramp up by early next year.