Town Meeting OKs UniQure TIF, Medical Marijuana Moratorium

A couple of typically politically charged topics were on the warrant for the special Town Meeting that convened on Monday, June 17 in Lexington: Drugs and taxes.

And in just about two hours, Town Meeting members gathered at Cary Hall approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement that could lure a Netherlands-based gene therapy company to establish a manufacturing operation here, and OK’d a moratorium that will bide some time for Lexington boards to develop local regulations.

In other business, Town Meeting approved a “housekeeping” article that made a technical correction to the financing outlined in Article 2 of the March 18 special Town Meeting vote to purchase a swath of the Scottish Rite property off Marrett Road.

The Articles

Article 2: Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan and Agreement for UniQure, Inc

By a voice vote—which was close, but not challenged by enough TMMs to prompt a standing vote—Town Meeting approved a TIF agreement that offers the Netherlands-based UniQure a financial incentive for establishing its United States manufacturing center on Hartwell Avenue in Lexington.

According to presentations, UniQure is a gene therapy company from the Netherlands that has made inroads with its Gylbera product in Europe and is looking to use 113 Hartwell Avenue as a launching pad for its expansion into the Americas.

A company spokesman said UniQure would invest at least $50 million in 113 Hartwell Ave., where it would lease and convert about 52,000 square feet of space into manufacturing, general labs and offices.

Under the terms of the TIF, which would save the company a little over $285,000 in taxes, the company would bring in 90 net new jobs, and lease the space for at least 10 years, with options to extend. The front-loaded tax break—90 percent of the savings would occur in the first two years—is subject to 10 year operation at the site, meaning if UniQure doesn’t stay 10 years, then the company owes the town the $285,790 it initially saved. Even with the TIF, the town is still in line receive more than $1.5 in taxes if UniQure builds out 113 Hartwell as its American base.

Article 3: Technical Correction to Article 2 of the March 18 Special Town Meeting – Land Purchase Off Marrett Road

Receiving unanimous approval with next to no discussion, this article corrects a technical error in the wording of a previously approved motion. The previously approved motion, identified an incorrect financing source for the nearly $11 million purchase of the Scottish Rite property, which is: The previous motion stated $3,650,000 was to be “raised in the tax levy,” when it should have been $1,085,778 from the tax levy and $2,474,222 to be appropriated from the general fund’s unreserved fund balance. That’s fixed now, and the fix affects neither the purchase nor the CPA funding approval.

Article 4: Amend Zoning Bylaw – Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers

Basically, with approval of this motion, Town Meeting members OK’d a temporary moratorium on locating medical marijuana treatment centers in Lexington until July 31, 2014, a move that affords town boards time to develop local regulations. Speaking to the motion—which her board supported by a 4 to 1 vote—Planning Board member Michelle Ciccolo explained state board are still in the process of establishing guidelines for the treatment centers and dispensaries allowed under a law approved at the ballots last year.