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NIANTIC — Niantic Cinema announced on Monday that it is closing its doors, citing a lack of interest from filmgoers since the COVID pandemic and operating costs that are “skyrocketing,” one of several movie theaters in the region who talked to CT Examiner about their recent struggles.

Peter Mitchell, the manager of the theater, said that the decision to close came from a confluence of factors. Originally, the theater, which had closed temporarily in September, planned to reopen around December 15 — traditionally one of the busiest seasons for the film industry. But Mitchell said that the films scheduled to be released this year were “not that encouraging.”

He also said that the business had been hit hard by inflation – the cost of electricity had gone up, and calling a repair person to fix the ice machine and the theater’s HVAC system was much more costly than it had been in earlier years. That combined with the decline in attendance

“It was kind of a group of things just all added up to — we can’t make this work anymore,” said Mitchell.

The small theater is part of a larger decline in the movie theater industry. The New York Times reported in September that 500 screens had closed since the start of the pandemic.

In southeast Connecticut, that trend has extended across the shoreline, with the Branford 12 Cinemas closing in January and the Marquee Cinemas in Westbrook closing in September. Chief Operating Officer of Marquee Cinemas James Cox told Zip06 that the reason for the Westbrook theater’s closure was the rise in streaming services combined with the COVID shutdowns.

Larger movie theater corporations have also been struggling. In September, the company Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a September report, the company said that recovery from the pandemic has been “slower than expected” and said that while the company expects improvements in the fourth quarter of 2022, admissions in 2023 and 2024 are still expected to fall below pre-pandemic levels.

The closed Branford 12 Cinemas was a Regal subsidiary. A Regal Theater in Stonington also closed in September.

Mitchell, whose family purchased the Niantic Cinemas in 1978, said the decline in interest in movie theaters hadn’t started with the pandemic. Even before, he said, streaming services like Netflix and AmazonPrime were leading more and more people to watch movies from home. He also said that there was no longer an “exclusivity period” in which movie theaters were the only place people could see new films — instead, new films are now broadcast on streaming services.

“I think it’s kind of like a golden age of television right now. People can really get into binge watching TV shows,” said Mitchell.

The pandemic drove the nail into the coffin, Mitchell said. People invested in large television screens for their homes. The health department told him that people aged 65 and older — a huge percent of their customer base — should stay home. And even now, he said, he thinks people are wary of going out to a public place.

Harold Blank, who owns Mystic Luxury Cinemas and Madison Cinemas, and has recently purchased the Westbrook Cinemas, said that attendance at the theaters this year was 68 percent of what it was in 2019. But, unlike Mitchell, he said he believed people would come back to the movies once more quality films were released. He said they had already seen a return to the theaters in June and July with the release of films like Where the Crawdads Sing, Top Gun and Jurassic World.

But in August, Blank said, the supply of new films dried up, and stayed dry through the fall.

“We were like a grocery store with no meat and vegetables,” he said. “The theaters need a more steady diet of film, 12 months a year — and I think that that is going to improve over the next year and into 2024.”

He agreed with Mitchell, however, that the coming Christmas season films, like Avatar and Strange World, would probably not draw as many people to the box office as anticipated. Even the Black Panther film, he said, wasn’t doing as well as predicted.

Blank said he was also investing in improvements to the theaters themselves. At the Mystic Luxury Cinemas, he said, they had upgraded the infrastructure and offered diverse programming and a bigger assortment of food and drinks. He said they were planning to make big changes to the Westbrook theater as well.

“I think it would be great to design a theater today … to the habits of the movie-going public post-pandemic,” he said.

Mitchell said the Niantic theater had tried to compensate for the pandemic effects by hosting group specials, working with the New London Recreation Department and with schools. When they reopened in 2021 after the COVID shutdown, he said, they hosted “vaccinated-only” showings on Mondays to try and bring people out. When the 2022 Elvis film came out, Mitchell said, he partnered with other businesses in the downtown area to host a “fifties day” in Niantic, complete with an Elvis tribute artist who performed in front of the theater.

But in the end, when he sat down and looked at the finances with his uncles and his father, it didn’t make sense to reopen.

“We came to the realization that it just really is time to turn the page. And it’s very sad,” he said.

Mitchell said the family plans to keep the 12,000 square foot building — possibly repurposing it into apartments.

“We will just keep our head up,” he said. “[The] New Year always brings new things, new opportunities.”

Emilia Otte covers health and education for the Connecticut Examiner. In 2022 Otte was awarded "Rookie of the Year," by the New England Newspaper & Press Association.

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Two towns have placed moratoriums on new marijuana retail applications as they consider rules banning additional pot shops.

Westbrook’s Zoning Commission approved one retail outlet in January, drawing outrage from the surrounding beach community, who have pushed the commission to stop allowing more.

In Montville, where former medical marijuana dispensary The Botanist has been allowed to sell to both medical and recreational customers since January, planning and zoning officials are holding a public hearing in August about banning more retailers.

The Westbrook Zoning Commission voted unanimously on Monday to put a six-month moratorium on marijuana retailers. Residents, who said they were left out of the loop when the commission originally made rules allowing the stores last year, pushed the commission to extend the moratorium to a year to allow seasonal beach residents a chance to discuss the issue.

Chair Harry Ruppenicker Jr. said he was concerned that extending the moratorium to a year without sending it back to the Planning Commission would put it at risk to a legal challenge if someone sued the town arguing the change was arbitrary. But he added the commission could consider an extension.

Jack Zamary and Dave Russell, two Westbrook residents who filed a lawsuit appealing the approval of the BUDR marijuana retailer on Boston Post Road, said the commission should create a subcommittee to discuss new regulations.

“I think [the commission’s] intentions were OK to start, but the wagon kind of got away running down the hill,” Russell said. “People do not want it, the neighborhood is extremely upset about it, and you see how it’s grown into basically the whole beach area is concerned about it, because this is where we live.”

Russell said the beach and boating industry is the “golden egg” in Westbrook and that “no reasonable business” is going to want to be near a marijuana retailer.

Vice Chair Dwayne Xenelis said the commission should consider a subcommittee and potentially extend the moratorium at its August meeting.

“We all want the same thing. We want a regulation that satisfies as many people in the town as possible,” Xenelis said. “Right now, we don’t have that, but we can have that if we all work together.”

But Commissioner Vincent Gentile, who abstained from the moratorium vote, said discussions over the past year haven’t been productive.

“Personally, I feel like the opposition to this is anti-business,” Gentile said. “I think it’s evident to almost everybody in town – you drive through Westbrook, Old Saybrook, Essex, there’s a notable lack of economic development in Westbrook. And we need to do something about it.”

The moratorium won’t affect the already approved BUDR store. Another application for a marijuana retail store at 144 Boston Post Road was scheduled for a public hearing on Aug. 28, but has since been withdrawn.

In a call with CT Examiner, Westbrook resident Sam Lyman said he was no longer pursuing the second marijuana store and would be focusing on other ways to develop business in town.

He said that the project would require more engineering changes and that he hadn’t found an operator interested in competing with BUDR down the road and Fine Fettle in Old Saybrook. Lyman added that he spoke with residents about their concerns with the site, and decided the store wasn’t worth pursuing.

In Montville, where The Botanist became one of the first retailers in the state this year to begin selling recreational marijuana, the Planning and Zoning Commission placed a six-month moratorium on all new marijuana businesses – including growers and manufacturers – on May 1.

Last month, members voted to ask Town Planner Liz Burdick to draft a regulation banning additional marijuana retailers. Burdick said the Town would likely consider banning growers and other new businesses after finishing regulations for new retail outlets. The regulations would grandfather in existing marijuana retailers.

“We did put a provision in there so that The Botanist, should they choose to – let’s say they need to put an addition on the building – we made a provision that they can do that,” Burdick said.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

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WESTBROOK – A Michigan-based maker of marijuana-infused drinks got an initial nod of approval Monday to open a manufacturing center in a mostly residential neighborhood.

Emerald Canning Partners and Boston-based Adams Avenue Asset Management received unanimous approval from the Westbrook Planning Commission to put a marijuana food and beverage manufacturer in the industrial building at 1244 Old Clinton Road.

The application still needs approval from the Zoning Commission.

Unlike a marijuana retail store on Boston Post Road that has drawn strong opposition from residents of the shoreline town, the proposal for a marijuana edibles manufacturer had a positive reception from the commission.

The applicant Drew Breuninger told the commission that the facility would only be used for manufacturing. There would be no retail, no customers and no cash on site, he said. And the new use of the building wouldn’t have an impact on the surrounding neighborhood, he said.

“If we didn’t have to be here [to get approval from the commission], no one would even know that we were there, to be honest,” Breuninger said. “Ultimately, that’s the safest and most secure. There’s not going to be signage. If we were just operating as a manufacturing facility for this intended use right now without going through public hearings, no one would know we existed.”

The one-story, more than 12,000-square-foot industrial building set along railroad tracks – just a short drive from Interstate 95 and Westbrook Center – is on a tree-lined street that is otherwise filled with single-family homes.

It currently houses a heating equipment supplier that commissioner Bill Neale, who said he lives nearby, said doesn’t disturb the neighborhood.

Neale said the property is industrial because it was a factory before zoning, and it was kept industrial as a pre-existing use despite being surrounded by a residential neighborhood.

“All around is all people’s houses, with their windows facing it,” Neale said.

He said the building’s occupants have always been good neighbors to the community, and Breuninger said they intended to do the same.

Emerald Canning Partners’ application says the facility will “not emit any cannabis odor.” The company will buy distilled marijuana oil from other producers and infuse that oil into its products. All of the plant compounds are removed during the oil extraction process, so the oil they use doesn’t have the distinct smell of marijuana flower, the application said.

The security plan in the application states that “some new lighting” will be installed to light the outside of the building and parking lot, a change Neale said was his main concern for the residents. The application also says the lighting has “glare protection” and wouldn’t interfere with neighboring properties.

State records show Emerald Canning Partners has a provisional license for marijuana food and beverage manufacturing, which it was awarded in the state’s general lottery last year.

Westbrook residents filled public hearings last year to oppose a marijuana retail store proposed for a mixed commercial and residential area on Boston Post Road. The Planning Commission was split 2-2 on the retail store, and didn’t find that it was consistent with the town’s development plan.

But the majority of the Zoning Commission agreed it met the town’s regulations and approved the retail store in January. Local residents have appealed that decision to Superior Court and petitioned the commission to ban any more marijuana stores in the mixed-use “NCD” zone that runs along Boston Post Road.

The manufacturing plan didn’t face the same scrutiny from the Planning Commission, which voted 4-0 to give its approval, finding that the proposal matches the town’s plans for development.

“If it’s quiet like it is now, everybody’s happy,” Neale said. “They come and go and nobody is disturbed.”

The proposal, which also includes a plan to expand the parking lot on the east side of the building to meet the town’s parking requirements, is scheduled for a public hearing with the Zoning Commission on May 22.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

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WESTBROOK – The Westbrook man behind a second application for a marijuana retailer on Boston Post Road said he believes his new location will cause less outrage among residents who had unsuccessfully pushed the town to ban additional marijuana stores.

Sam Lyman is seeking approval for a store at 144 Boston Post Road, a little over a mile away from BUDR’s planned retailer at 755 Boston Post Road, which the Zoning Commission approved earlier this year, much to the ire of a local beach community.

Lyman said his location, which is currently being used as a standalone RV store and is surrounded by other businesses, won’t have the same issues that many Westbrook residents had with the BUDR store.

The marijuana business would be the only occupant at the site, Lyman said, unlike BUDR, which shares its building with a laundromat and apartments.

Lyman said he thinks opposition to the BUDR store is mainly due to its location, and he hopes residents see his location is a better fit.

“Of course there’s going to be people against the use in general, but I think for a lot of reasons, my location is the appropriate location, and hopefully everyone will feel the same,” Lyman said. “I’m sensitive to the issue. I live in town, and I want to make sure I deliver a product that exceeds the town’s expectations.”

Residents’ plea for ban is rejected

The rollout of legalized marijuana has roiled the Zoning Commission of the small shoreline community since BUDR applied to open a marijuana retail shop last year.

Concerned residents packed public hearings to oppose the BUDR store, many not realizing the commission had already written rules to allow marijuana businesses last summer after public hearings that drew little interest.

The commission approved the BUDR store, saying it met the regulations, and a group of Westbrook residents reacted by appealing the decision to state Superior Court. They also petitioned the commission for a regulation change that would ban any more marijuana stores in the town’s zoned Neighborhood Commercial District – the mixed commercial and residential neighborhood along the Boston Post Road that includes the BUDR store and Lyman’s proposed store.

But on Monday, the commission declined to ban marijuana stores in that zone, voting 4-1 against the petition. Zoning Chair Harry Ruppenicker Jr. told CT Examiner on Tuesday that he and other commissioners were reluctant to ban marijuana retailers so soon after it approved BUDR. It would make the BUDR store a pre-existing, nonconforming use just months after it was approved, he said.

Ruppenicker explained that the commission already debated its marijuana regulations last year. It held the public hearing open for months, and only two people came to speak – one in favor and one opposed, he said.

The lack of interest when the commission was writing the regulations is a stark contrast to the packed meetings the commission has held since word spread about BUDR’s application late last year.

“Everyone is busy with their lives, and I don’t know how many people have time to monitor what goes on on different boards and commissions,” Ruppenicker said. “I think once the application became known, the beach association spread the word and motivated, obviously heightened interest for people to come out in opposition to that specific application.”

Commission looks for a pause

While the commission rejected the residents’ petition to ban more marijuana retail in the Neighborhood Commercial District, they also scheduled a hearing for a proposed six-month moratorium on marijuana retail applications for July 24.

“I think the commission would just like to hit the pause button,” Ruppenicker said. “Let [BUDR] open and just sort of gauge the impact of it before we tackle another one.”

But that pause won’t stop Lyman’s application, which Ruppenicker said he was completely surprised by when it was submitted last week. Initially, Ruppenicker said the town was told that a community the size of Westbrook could only have one marijuana retailer.

Later, they were told there was no limit, he said. In an attempt to limit the number, the commission noted in its regulations that marijuana retailers had to be at least 5,000 feet away from each other.

“We thought we would either have one retailer sort of in the center of town, or that we would have one maybe toward Clinton and one towards Old Saybrook,” Ruppenicker said. “We didn’t really have any expectations. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been no applications, this was all new territory for us.”

The commission set an Aug. 28 hearing for Lyman’s application, giving town staff the maximum two months to review it.

Lyman said he doesn’t have a state permit for a marijuana retailer, and is unsure whether he’ll apply on his own in the state lottery, or with a social equity applicant like BUDR did. He explained he could also partner with someone who has a license, who would effectively take it over from him.

“I know [BUDR] is having a tough time with their site, and … who knows? They might even want to come over to my site,” Lyman said. “Or it could be someone else who’s looking to be in the area. I know there’s many large players who are interested in this area.”

The commission also voted 4-1 on Monday to allow Emerald Canning to put a marijuana edibles manufacturer in an existing industrial building in a mostly residential neighborhood on Old Clinton Road.

That applicant, Drew Breuninger, has promised there would be no smell and no disturbance. His application drew far less opposition than BUDR’s retail store.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

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WESTBROOK – Months after the Zoning Commission approved a marijuana retailer, residents upset with that decision are asking the commissioners to ban all future marijuana stores in their neighborhood along the Boston Post Road.

Some on the commission suggested that they were open to the idea, which comes after the commission’s January vote to allow BUDR to open a marijuana retail store at 755 Boston Post Road, the location of a former package store near West Beach. The commission approved the marijuana store by a 4-1 vote, even after residents packed public hearings to argue the store didn’t fit the residential beach community.

On Monday night, Westbrook resident Dave Russell said those who opposed BUDR wanted to ensure that no other marijuana store would be able to open in the town’s NCD zone – a mixed commercial and residential zone along the Boston Post Road.

Russell said boating and beaches are the “bread and butter” of Westbrook, and that marijuana outlets would cause problems for the beach communities along the Boston Post Road.

“Our thought is that this area is something we should be guarding, protecting, and making an attraction for Westbrook, for the right types of businesses that would cultivate what I think most of us kind of want with the beach, and the boating, and restaurants – and other things that would support the kind of summer recreational environment of a pleasant New England town,” Russell said.

The commission agreed to move forward with hearing an application after Russell and Jack Zamary – who are also part of a group of residents who are appealing the BUDR approval in Middletown Superior Court – meet with town zoning officials to work out a proposal. But the commissioners offered mixed opinions of the idea during an informal discussion of the residents’ preliminary application.

Vice Chair Dwayne Xenelis, the lone commissioner to vote against the BUDR application, said he didn’t think marijuana retailers should be allowed in the area, and he would support the application.

Commissioner Mike Engels said he wished that the commission heard the outcry against marijuana retailers before it wrote the regulations allowing BUDR to apply as a retail outlet for marijuana. He said earlier opposition probably would have swayed him to oppose allowing marijuana stores in the first place, but that now he was unsure.

“When all this started, six months, a year ago, that business was a retail liquor store, and a laundromat,” Engels said. “So we started the whole process of this thing saying, ‘Okay, what’s the difference between the two?’ and that’s where this came about. I’m very much in favor of business in a business building, and I didn’t see any difference if you went from a liquor store to a retail cannabis.”

Chair Harry Ruppenicker, Jr. made it clear that if the commission changes the regulation now, BUDR will still be allowed to open. He said he was concerned about the commission turning the marijuana store into a pre-existing, non-conforming use just three months after approving it.

Ruppenicker suggested a compromise – expanding the distance required between any two marijuana retailers, which he said would effectively eliminate the possibility of any future marijuana stores in that zone. Russell said they preferred banning it from the zone entirely, but said they would discuss options with town staff and bring a formal proposal to the commission.

Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. T: 860 598-0050

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