A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 43F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..
A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 43F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Updated: November 10, 2024 @ 6:15 pm
Reporter
AMSTERDAM — A moratorium on cannabis businesses and smoke shops is expected to be extended into the spring as officials consider updating regulations to better control the growing industries.
A local law extending the pause on new applications for cannabis dispensaries and consumption lounges and smoke shops for three months will be considered by the Common Council at its next meeting immediately following a public hearing at 5:55 p.m. on Nov. 19.
The city previously enacted a three month moratorium on such businesses that would expire on Dec. 3. The proposed local law would extend it to March 3.
A committee was formed last month to review the city’s zoning laws to consider whether existing regulations provide sufficient safeguards to protect against oversaturation and “inappropriate” locations for cannabis businesses and smoke shops.
The committee is expected to recommend updates to the Common Council for possible adoption by local law subject to a future public hearing. But the volunteer group has yet to meet.
“We are putting together the first meeting now, there’s been some research done by our committee. We hope to announce that meeting date in the very near future,” Mayor Michael Cinquanti said Wednesday.
Volunteers on the zoning review committee include 2nd Ward Alderman Rich Holoday, 4th Ward Alderman Christopher Carpenter, Planning Commission Chairwoman Sandy Griffin, Zoning Board of Appeals member Pam Swart, Housing Inspector Grant Egelston and Fire Chief Anthony Agresta. Corporation Counsel Anthony Casale will advise the group.
With the expiration of the existing moratorium looming, Carpenter last month had requested an extension to ensure officials would have sufficient time to consider updated rules.
“We had just gotten the committee set up and didn’t have time in a normal time frame to address all the issues, so this gives us an extension,” Carpenter said.
Cinquanti, Holoday and Carpenter have previously said existing regulations need to be revisited to give the city greater control over the location of cannabis businesses and smoke shops due to concerns about businesses opening in heavily trafficked areas and residential neighborhoods.
Officials say regulations rolled out by the state since adult-use cannabis was legalized have not provided the level of oversight or local input originally expected.
“We don’t have the sorts of advanced notification or control over the process that we thought we were going to have when this whole thing was announced and we opted-in based on what we had been told,” Cinquanti said.
In June 2023, the city adopted zoning regulations allowing cannabis businesses in commercial areas subject to a special use permit, which officials believed would provide the Planning Commission latitude to consider quality of life issues and other community concerns when deciding whether to approve or deny projects.
They have since concluded that likely is not the case following the approval over the summer of a controversial microbusiness dispensary planned in a former bank building at 161 Church St. despite widespread opposition from neighborhood residents and officials.
The Planning Commission raised a number of concerns related to the proposal, but questioned their authority to reject it since a license had already been issued by the state Office of Cannabis Management.
The board voted 4-2 to approve the application. Members who ultimately voted “yes” expressed unease over the situation, saying they were “struggling” with the application due to the steps that had been completed during the state licensing process before local approvals were sought.
“It’s a problem in the sense that we don’t have the control we thought we were going to have, so a moratorium is important to make sure we understand the ramifications,” Cinquanti said. “So, we can do something to provide the city at least some form of control over where these places are located in the future and who operates them.”
Existing rules allow dispensaries in the downtown core, employment, commercial corridor and light industrial zoning districts. Consumption sites are allowed in the employment and commercial corridor zones. Manufacturing is allowed in the employment and light industrial districts. Marijuana businesses are not permitted in expressly residential zoning districts.
There are no zoning regulations specifically addressing smoke shops or businesses selling vape or tobacco products at this time. They fall under the regulations for other retail sites.
Officials believe the three month extension of the moratorium will provide sufficient time for the formed committee to complete its zoning review and develop recommendations for the Common Council to act on before the pause expires.
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Reach Ashley Onyon at aonyon@dailygazette.net or @AshleyOnyon on X.
Reporter
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