On Oct. 4, the Cazenovia Town Board adopted a local law opting out of allowing retail cannabis dispensaries and on-site cannabis consumption establishments from locating and operating within the boundaries of the town.
Under New York State’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), which was signed into law on March 31, 2021, cities, towns and villages — but not counties — may decide whether or not they will allow establishments within their jurisdictions to sell cannabis products and/or permit on-site cannabis consumption. They cannot, however, prohibit possession or use, generally.
To “opt out,” a municipality must adopt a local law subject to permissive referendum on or before Dec. 31, 2021.
“If the board were to adopt this [opt-out] law, it is designed in such a way that it can only be approved by way of permissive referendum,” explained Town Attorney John Langey. “If this does get adopted tonight or in the future, we have to publish a summary of that action in the paper. Then a petition can be passed and submitted, and if there are sufficient signatures on it, it would go to a public vote. At that time, depending on what the vote is, the majority of the people that would vote in that referendum would determine the issue.”
If a municipality opts out, it can always opt back in, but if it does not opt out by the end of the year, there is no provision for opting out at a later date.
“We have two choices,” explained Town Supervisor Bill Zupan. “We could do nothing and that would opt us into having on-site consumption and dispensaries in the Town of Cazenovia — right now the only spot that is zoned for this is Main Street, New Woodstock. If we don’t do anything, we are in forever. If we opt out this year, we can always opt back in if we get zoning laws to [establish on-site consumption facilities and dispensaries] up on Route 20 or something like that . . . But New York State is not going to have any rules and regulations into effect until probably the fall of 2022.”
Prior to making its decision, the board opened a public hearing on the proposed local law, during which Cazenovia resident Mark Braiman spoke out against the opt-out.
“My understanding is that if this opting out passes there will still be criminal liability for selling cannabis in the Town of Cazenovia,” he said. “I think it is a safer place if there are places where people can purchase this [legally] . . . This is a situation where the ill effects from criminalization far outweigh any of the bad effects from use. This is one of the most benign drugs known to humanity. The number of deaths that have been directly caused by cannabis use is far, far lower than alcohol use, and we permit alcohol use in numerous establishments. We permit alcohol sales and manufacture throughout the Town of Cazenovia; in fact, we have been encouraging it for the last decade or two . . . I strongly believe that it will send an important signal if we start to allow this as a process and make it clear that we are going to be entering the 21st century along with the rest of New York State.”
Braiman also commented that he believes the presence of official dispensaries would increase the safety and reliability of the cannabis available to individuals interested in obtaining it.
“A licensed dealer would be much less likely to sell something of unknown quality, unknown strength, or unknown purity,” he said.
After receiving Braiman’s input, the board adopted the local law by a vote of four to one.
Zupan and Councilors Patrick Race, Kristi Andersen and Kyle Reger voted in favor of the local law.
Andersen commented that she was torn about the issue.
“Although I’ve talked to Jimmy about this a lot, and [I know] my brother, who died recently, benefited from medical marijuana, I think that the state is going into this having not legislated or regulated it very well,” she said. “I think if we wait a little while, we could decide where and under what conditions we wanted to have either dispensaries or on-site consumption, and we can [opt] in.”
Race also expressed that he was not necessarily opposed to dispensaries or on-site consumption establishments, but that he is in agreement with Andersen.
“To jump in head first and then let the state figure it out, that’s not a good idea in my opinion,” he said.
Zupan and Reger both said they believe it is in the town’s best interest to wait for additional information and the state’s rules and regulations before making the decision to opt in.
“I’m willing to look at it in another year or something like that, to come back and to say ‘Okay, I’m ready to opt-in,’” Zupan said. “But at this time, I can’t.”
Councilor Jimmy Golub voted against the adoption of the opt-out law.
Golub stated that, regardless of whether or not the town opts in or out, cannabis would continue to be accessible.
“There are towns nearby that are opting in,” he said. “Anybody who wanted it when it was illegal had plenty of opportunity to have access to it, and certainly when it’s legal and there are dispensaries — even if they aren’t in our town — they are going to have access.”
He also echoed Braiman’s opinion that dispensaries can help with quality control.
“When you buy it from a drug dealer, you don’t know if it might be laced with something, you don’t know how pure it is,” he said. “[When substances are controlled,] we are pretty good at that. When you buy alcohol at the liquor store, nobody has gone blind from the alcohol lately. I think the quality control would be better off done by the state than by the mob. This is not about whether cannabis is good; we are currently selling a lot of products that are harmful. So, in my mind, there is no reason to wait and see. Prohibition is over; it’s a legal product. I don’t know if there is another legal product that we are singling out.”
In other news
Race read a proclamation in recognition of the departure of Highway Superintendent Dean Slocum, who served the town for the last 10 years (four as highway superintendent).
The proclamation acknowledged Slocum’s wisdom, knowledge, and dedication to his position and highlighted his many contributions to his department, the town and its citizens.
“Dean will not only leave a void at the highway department, but he will be greatly missed by the staff at the town hall, as the duties of both locations are often integrated,” said Race. “Whenever asked to do a job, task, or follow up with a constituent, Dean was on it. Never one to leave a job for later, we knew it was done and done right.”
The board voted to continue its public hearing relative to the request from TJA Clean Energy, LLC and TJA-NY-Barrett Rd New Woodstock, LLC for relief from a local law (adopted June 14, 2021) imposing a 12-month moratorium on all applications for the construction and location of new commercial solar energy facilities within the Town of Cazenovia.
Prior to the start of the moratorium, the Town of Cazenovia Zoning Board of Appeals and the Town of Cazenovia Planning Board approved applications for a special use permit and site plan approval, respectively, for the construction and operation of the “Barrett Road Solar Project,” a 5-megawatt commercial solar installation on the Lucas property at 2405 Barrett Road, New Woodstock.
Recently, the applicant, TJA Clean Energy, approached the town with the desire to amend and modify its prior approvals due to a lack of availability of materials necessary to construct the project as approved.
In order for changes to be made to the special use permit and site plan, the town must offer the applicant relief from the moratorium.
Following a presentation by Michael Frateschi, P.E., project development engineer and manager at TJA Clean Energy, and Attorney Andrew Leja of Barclay Damon, LLP, the board received questions and comments from residents, including several individuals who spoke out against the granting of relief.
The board will continue the public hearing on Monday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Town Office.
The Cazenovia Town Board typically meets the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call the Town Office at 315-655-9213.
