Legal Means Legal

The Southampton Town Board, like all town and village boards in New York State, had a limited window of opportunity to opt out of the state law that legalizes the sale of recreational marijuana.

After a conscious board decision to take no action, that window closed on December 31, 2021, setting the stage for marijuana retail shops and on-site consumption establishments to open in the unincorporated areas of town.

The Town Board must still design a framework that spells out where these businesses may not operate — such as near a school or a house of worship — and where they can operate, and it’s in the process of doing that now. It’s a balancing act between letting a legal activity occur and preventing it from becoming a nuisance. Too loose, and pot shops may overrun family-friendly business districts. Too tight, and these businesses will have few, if any, places where they could operate successfully, and the industry will go elsewhere — taking jobs and tax revenue with it.

No one is suggesting that the Town Board should take a freewheeling approach. There are certainly locations where pot sales and smoking are inappropriate, and there are plenty of zoning restrictions that would be more than reasonable. But chasing marijuana businesses out of all of the prime locations for retail and “tasting” rooms is not reasonable either.

One of the proposed provisions the board is considering would prohibit marijuana sales near a museum — and in a town with abundant art and history museums, that would take many locations off the table. It’s not just unfair for the businesspeople but also to landlords.

Some would like to see the Town Board prohibit sales in entire hamlets, which would concentrate marijuana businesses elsewhere and also undermine the fact that marijuana retail sales are, in fact, legal in town. Additionally, expelling marijuana businesses to light industrial and highway business districts while liquor stores and bars may operate in downtown business districts, and are encouraged to do so, is an option that the Town Board should set aside.

The Town Board hearing on the matter was adjourned until October, after the state’s own regulations are expected to be finalized.

“We can’t allow it, and zone it out of existence,” Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said at a July 12 hearing.

The board should keep that frame of mind between now and October.