Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard received a special permit from the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals Thursday night to operate a recreational marijuana dispensary in the town -- the last step in a long and winding road to approval for the Island’s first retail marijuana facility.

The special permit approval was confirmed by West Tisbury zoning board administrator Pam Thors and comes after multiple hearings before the board over the past two weeks. Ms. Thors said that the approval included a variety of conditions but could not immediately provide further detail on Friday.

Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard is owned by Island entrepreneur Geoff Rose, who has been working for the better part of the past decade to open and permit a medical marijuana establishment and cultivation facility on the Island. The facility will be located at 510 State Road in West Tisbury and has already received all necessary state and local medicinal marijuana approvals.

Recreational marijuana is permitted separately from medicinal marijuana. 

Earlier this summer, Mr. Rose received approval from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to operate a recreational dispensary at the same site on State Road in West Tisbury on the condition that it operate by appointment only. Abutters had voiced concerns about traffic at the facility during public hearings.

The commission’s approval sent the project back before the West Tisbury zoning board, which granted its conditional approval on Thursday. Correspondence from abutters shows that neighbors requested no Sunday operations at the facility, among other conditions.

The West Tisbury zoning board’s special permit is hypothetically the final permitting hurdle Mr. Rose had to clear to open the facility for recreational marijuana sales. Mr. Rose has received provisional state licenses to operate a recreational dispensary at the site. The provisional license is subject to state inspection by officials with the Cannabis Control Commission.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone on Friday, Mr. Rose said that despite receiving all the requisite permits, he does not plan to sell recreational marijuana until he expands his cultivation facility, which is located on Dr. Fisher Road in West Tisbury. The facility currently contains about 500 square feet of cultivation space -- which Mr. Rose said he has received a permit to expand to approximately 2,000 square feet.

He plans for the work to take place this winter.

“The question will be, being able to have adequate production to meet adult use demands,” Mr. Rose said. “From a licensing perspective, [we could open tomorrow]. From product availability, no.”

Mr. Rose said he plans to first focus on medicinal marijuana before shifting to recreational sales, and hopes to be open to medical patients by early December. The prospect of receiving his final local permit approval was cause for excitement, however.

“It’s been a long, arduous, challenging, frustrating, exciting journey,” Mr. Rose said. “So getting all of the licensing is certainly a major milestone. The next will be getting to a point where we can adequately supply demand for adult use.”