A proposed marijuana dispensary in downtown has been put on hold after locals objected to its location adjacent to a homeless shelter focused on the education of at-risk youth.

Rooted in Roxbury hoped to open a location at 13 West Street, but the Boston Cannabis Board (BCB) voted unanimously on December 15 to defer the matter until February. The proposed location has faced pushback since its inception from residents, businesses and civic groups, but co-owner Brian Keith insists his business would be a boon to the community.

“We’re giving people of color a seat at the table in a billion-dollar industry,” he said at a December 8 BCB meeting.

“We always look to hire locally and keep them full-time,” said Solmon Chowdhury, co-owner and CFO of the business. “A lot of our employees stick around with us for a long time because we always share profit with them. We promote within our organization, and people end up running our restaurants or cafes. We’re setting aside 5% of this location's profits, and that’s going to go to the employees.”

Rooted in Roxbury has long touted its inclusive base of investors, with 98% of its shareholders being people of color and 51% being women. The business frames its expansion as a way to ensure the marijuana industry benefits the communities most harmed by the War on Drugs, and to give other small businesses a foothold in the Downtown. All those factors played very favorably during the BCB’s deliberations, but ultimately weren’t enough to outweigh the location. “We’ve developed a plan to bring more Black and Brown businesses to Downtown Crossing,” said Keith. “We’re forgoing cannabis sales on our first floor to utilize it as a pop-up shop space for small businesses. This space will add an oasis of diverse business talent that might otherwise not be able to afford space downtown.”

Many residents aren’t convinced.

Opposition from abutters, businesses and the Chinese Progressives Association had the mayor’s office of neighborhood services taking a neutral position, and during an August 19 BCB meeting the group brought in several residents to speak strongly against the business and the effect they believe it would have on the community. Many locals at the December 8 meeting were similarly skeptical.“It’s directly across from a college, and nobody ever mentioned these pop-up shops in earlier pitches,” said Ken Gloss, owner of the adjacent Brattle Book Shop.

“The first floor was supposed to be a waiting room, and now it’s being taken up by shops? I don’t want my shop to be turned into a waiting room for a cannabis dispensary.”

The most common complaint was its proximity to the area’s student centers. Cannabis dispensaries are supposed to remain five hundred feet away from schools, but the proposed location is just over half that distance from Bridge Over Troubled Waters, an educational center focusing on at-risk youth. The William J. Ostiguy High School is just on the other side of the block, but is not in conflict due to updated laws that now measure distance by walking path rather than a direct line, putting the dispensary 12 feet beyond the minimum distance.

“We see 2,000 young people at the West Street location,” said Elizabeth Jackson, CEO of Bridge Over Troubled Water. “We completely oppose the dispensary. We have a residential program there, 21 of our babies are on location. They live here. This is their home, where I said they were going to be safe. I intend to make sure they are safe.”

While several investors and local politicians spoke in favor of the dispensary, the location next to Bridge Over Troubled Waters proved decisive. The BCB has delayed a final decision until its February meeting to give the owners time to try and work out an arrangement with abutters.

“This is tough but being located next to Bridge Over Troubled Waters is a sticking point,” said BCB commissioner Lisa Holmes. “I have no doubt the operators are good businesspeople and I love their model, but this is the worst location they could have chosen. To be near that population of young people trying to uplift their lives after falling into disrepair does not work.”