Zoning board approves cannabis shop on Freeport Street in Dorchester

The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans by the owner of Antonio’s HiFi Pizza and Bosburger in Fields Corner to open a recreational marijuana mart at 43 Freeport St. in Dorchester.

Brian Chavez's proposal still needs the approval of the state Cannabis Control Commission before he can turn the first floor of what is now a vacant three-story building into one of two cannabis shops he hopes to open in Boston - the other would be at Washington Street and Archdale Road in Roslindale. The Boston Cannabis Board approved the project in October.

Chavez's Freeport Street branch of Massachusetts Citizens for Social Equity, in a building owned by Robert Susi, would have 24 parking spaces.

Chavez's lawyer, Mike Ross, said that, if need be, Chavez would likely be able to use additional parking spaces on other properties that Susi owns next to it. However, Ross said that might be unlikely because by the time Chavez would win state approval, even more marijuana establishments would be open in the Boston area, further reducing the odds of large crowds seen at the first shops to open in the state.

Ross added that, at 4,500 square feet, the proposed shop is much larger than other shops the zoning board has approved and has plenty of room inside for patrons to wait their turn to buy, so he does not expect any lines to form outside the building - located in an industrial area with no nearby schools or residences.

The zoning approval calls for operation between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week.