Riverhead denies variance for cannabis dispensary

The Town of Riverhead zoning board voted unanimously Thursday, June 12, to deny a variance requested to open a cannabis dispensary in the old Aboffs Paints at 1086 Old Country Road. In the Town of Riverhead, cannabis dispensaries cannot be within 1,000 feet of a school. 

Vice Chairman Ralph Gazillo read the following statement before the zoning board voted: “The board has carefully reviewed and considered all of the testimony and evidence submitted in connection with the application, as well as defining set forth in the full informed decision. After this court, careful review, the board hereby determines that the benefit of granting the area of variance request is substantially outweighed by the detriment of granting the area of variance request to the health, safety and welfare of the community, and hereby denies the application based on the foregoing. This board hereby denies the application in its entirety.”

According to Martha Reichert, the attorney representing Brian Stark, the dispensary licensee, the building is separated from the school by both distance and development. It is on a different street with multiple buildings and roads in between the locations. 

“If you’re going to just measure property and property line, we have 735 feet [in] separation distance,” Ms. Reichert said. “We’re not on the same street. 
There is extensive fencing around the school property. There is fencing around the commercial properties that are on that southerly side of Old Country Road. There is a shopping center, a four-lane highway. You cannot see the dispensary from the school and vice versa.”

Ms. Reichert also said that the town’s rules are more restrictive than the state.

“[The town] first did it in 2022, which was prior to New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management, which is called OCM, promulgating their specific cannabis rules,” she said. “And once OCM promulgated its rules, the state regulations made it very clear that certain distance regulations, such as the ones for schools, which the state requires 500 feet [from door to door], and the school needs to be on the same street in order for it to disqualify. But those preempts, they’re not part of the list of things that municipalities are able to legislate locally.”

This means that the rules set down by the state, at least as far as the distances are concerned, are not open for change by local municipalities. 

Dispensaries are secure buildings. No one under 21 is allowed inside the establishment. To get inside, patrons must hand their identification to the security personnel. It is then scanned into the store’s system before an individual can gain entry. 

“You can go into a supermarket where beer and wine products are sold and no one checks the ID of children, right?” Ms. Reichert said. “Same thing with liquor stores. Your ID doesn’t get checked until you’re at the line, purchasing the product. With cannabis, it’s much stricter.”

For this dispensary, Mr. Stark submitted a security plan and odor mitigation plan, which are required by the state. Additionally, there is an interior and exterior camera system for security. New York state’s regulations prohibit displays, so there are no visuals to attract the eye. 

One of the examples highlighted in previous meetings is the recent case of William Floyd Middle School students who were sickened after consuming cannabis gummies at school. The individual charged in the case is alleged to have sold the gummies via Instagram, and not through a licensed dispensary. 

“What it demonstrates is that it’s the illegal sale of cannabis, by unlicensed and unregulated retailers, that have led to these incidents. And the state of New York, specifically OCM and the Attorney General’s Office … have put huge amounts of their budget and emphasis right now and [are] cracking down on those illegal shops for this very reason, because their products aren’t tested and verified like the ones in a regulated cannabis shop,” said Ms. Reichert.

Since the town has denied their application for a variance, Ms. Reichert stated that they plan to appeal to the state. She said that it will likely raise the issue of whether the town has the right to make their own, stricter rules, since this limits the number of licenses the state can grant.

While concerns over abuse of cannabis are not unexpected, Ms. Reichert emphasized that dispensaries are legal, secure businesses.

“I am an attorney, and I am a parent, and what I’ve seen is that legal cannabis, while many people are still wrapping their heads around it or are conflicted over it, is it’s a legal business now,” she added. “It’s a great economic opportunity. I think that people who are concerned should probably just take the time to visit a dispensary. They’re well-operated, regulated businesses. They employ a lot of people. They’re going to generate a lot of tax revenue that will benefit the towns in which they’re located.”