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The zoning code amendment articulating where retail cannabis dispensaries may be developed in the Town of Southampton was the subject of a public hearing this week.
Just a handful of stalwart speakers waited five hours in Southampton Town Hall for a chance to weigh in on proposed regulations for retail marijuana shops on Tuesday, March 14.
An earlier public hearing, on the controversial purchase of the Marsden Street property in Sag Harbor, saw scores of speakers and stretched on, from afternoon to early evening.
The hearing on proposed regulations for retail cannabis dispensaries featured proponents of the emerging industry as well and those, including Councilman Rick Martel, who emphasized the need to safeguard children from what some see as “a gateway drug.”
“This whole thing troubles me,” the councilman said, pointing out the vote to refrain from opting out of the ability to allow the retail sale of cannabis for adult use was not unanimous. Southampton is one of just four towns in Suffolk County that will permit retail shops.
Martel has spent a lifetime working with youth and said, speaking to potential pot purveyors, that if the town’s regulations are adopted, “I am leaning on you 100 percent to protect our children.”
Alana Urbont Marino, director of community engagement for Human Understanding & Growth Services (HUGS), a nonprofit youth advocacy organization, and Tracy Kolsin of the Southampton Youth Bureau underscored the importance of minimizing marijuana access.
Living in an area that’s dense in cannabis retail is a proven risk factor for youth, Urbont Marino said. “Normalizing” recreational use of marijuana by allowing sites on main thoroughfares sends a message there’s nothing wrong with it, Kolsin added.
“Everything in that legislation is to protect children,” Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman countered.
Hampton Bays School District Superintendent Lars Clemensen expressed concern that permitting the shops in highway business zoning districts could mean a retail outlet in the hamlet on Montauk Highway near Carvel, where kids congregate. Incorporated villages in the town have opted out of the sale, which could drive business to Hampton Bays, Martel worried. He asked colleagues to consider the impact on downtown areas of Hampton Bays and other hamlets like Water Mill and Speonk. With his hometown of Hampton Bays potentially offering “a lot of places where this could fit in,” he asked to take one last look at regulating shops in downtown districts.
Kelly Dodds of the organization Safe in Sag Harbor focused on motorists driving under the influence, stating she notices “a heavy smell” of marijuana on Noyac Road when she’s waiting for the bus with her children in the morning. She’s concerned Town Police don’t have enough drug recognition experts, or DREs. Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara reported that while DRE training is very challenging, Town Police have never been in a position where they couldn’t get a DRE from an area department when needed.
Speaking in support of the regulations, Kim Stetz and Marquis Hayes are among potential sellers who have received retail licenses from the state. A resident of New York City, Stetz said she was excited to learn Southampton decided to opt in to the sale. She views marijuana as a healing plant in her psychotherapy practice. Hayes, her partner, is an acclaimed personal chef who spends a lot of time in the Hamptons. He said the pair hopes to be the first to offer delivery service.
Advocate, hemp farmer and Sag Harbor resident David Falkowski of Open Minded Organics and the Cannabis Association of New York said he’s “pretty proud of my town” for crafting what he characterized as “common-sensical legislation.” He and Walter Bonilla, another licensee, asked the board to reconsider restrictions on shop hours. The legislation limits from to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. They’d like to see the hours of operation extended earlier, with Bonilla suggesting 8 or 9 a.m., like other retail stores.
He praised town officials for putting together legislation that’s congruent with guidance from the New York State Office of Cannabis Management guidelines.
The legislation prohibits cannabis dispensaries on the same road or within 500 feet of school grounds and community facilities such as libraries, public parks, daycare centers, playgrounds, and public pools. They can’t be located within 200 feet of a house of worship or within 1,000 feet of another retail pot shop. They will only be allowed in highway and shopping center business zones by special exception permit.
Applicants may need to provide traffic studies to show the neighborhood surrounding the dispensary can absorb predicted traffic.
No drive-thru shops are permitted, but officials are waiting to see whether state regulations supersede the provision.
Speaking to the design and appearance of the store, the code amendment requires the look of the shop to conform with the character of the community. “Generic and standard architectural design derivatives of national or regional chains shall not be permitted,” the measure states.
Further prohibitions include outdoor speakers and music and drive-thru windows. Signs can’t display references to pot, pictures of cannabis, paraphernalia, or the imagery or action of smoking or vaping. No cannabis products can be displayed in an area that is visible from outside the store. A security system must be installed and shopkeepers must prove they’ve obtained the necessary licenses and permits from the OCM.
The Marijuana Regulation & Taxation act was signed into law in 2021. The legislation created the OCM, governed by a Cannabis Control Board. The OCM issued its guidance last October. Towns only have authority, through their zoning powers to regulate the “time, place and manner” in which retail shops may operate, Deputy Town Attorney Kathleen Murray explained. Town officials will also have zoning authority over establishments that provide for on-site consumption. So far, the OCM has not released guidance for that use.
Adult nonmedical cannabis use is legal in 18 states. As of January 1, 2022, the Town of Southampton, along with 756 other municipalities in the state, chose not to opt-out of allowing adult-use, nonmedical marijuana dispensaries, and allow the retail sale of marijuana. Two-thirds of the towns in Suffolk County that opted in — Brookhaven, Riverhead, and Southampton — are neighbors. Babylon is the fourth town where the sale is permitted.
While the Town of Southampton opted in on dispensaries and social-consumption spaces, its incorporated villages — Sagaponack, Southampton Village, Quogue, Westhampton Dunes, Westhampton Beach, and North Haven — opted out. Sag Harbor, which straddles the townships of East Hampton and Southampton, also opted out. The Shinnecock Nation has a 5,000-square-foot dispensary under construction on its territory in Southampton, and several smoke shops on the territory are already selling cannabis. The sovereign nation follows its own rules and is not governed by the state.
Board members voted Tuesday night to close the hearing.
