Marijuana law: As deadline arrives, most in GLOW choose to opt out - The Livingston County News

Municipalities across New York State have until the end of today to opt-out of allowing recreational marijuana to be sold or consumed on-premises in their community.

In the GLOW region, more than two-thirds of the communities reporting a decision are opting out of allowing retail sales or on-site consumption, according to data compiled by the Rockfeller Institute of Government and interviews with local officials. As of Dec. 29, among the 59 reporting communities, 40 had opted out of dispensaries and 43 opted out of on-site consumption. Information on the remaining 24 communities was not immediately available.

Municipalities that opt out will be able to opt in at a later date and their are also options for a public referendum to put the issue to a community-wide vote.

The deadline is a result of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, or MRTA, which became law in March. The law allows for muncipalities to opt-out of licensing. If no decision is made, then those cities, towns and villages, will be automatically opted-in to the retail market, though it does not guarantee a dispensary or consumption site.

Those that opt out of allowing marijuana to be sold also means those municipalities are foregoing tax revenue from the sales.

Under the new law, there will be a 13% tax on each sale, with 9% going to the state and 4% going to counties and municipalities. Of that 4%, municipalities will receive 75% based on their adult-use marijuana sales, and counties will receive the remaining 25%.

Municipalities may only opt out of on-site user locations and dispensaries. They cannot opt out of allowing individuals to use marijuana as the possession and use of cannabis will remain legal across the state.

If a municipality decides to opt-out, it must pass a law by today. Residents of those municipalities will also have 45 days after each law is passed to gather signatures and kick off a referendum that could overturn the municipality’s decision.

Cities, towns and villages that opt in will have some control where marijuana sales and consumption sites are located. The legislation does prohibit dispensaries from being located near a school and other particular businesses, but local officials — and residents — across the state have expressed concerns about such things as the number of licenses that would be allowed in a community, the rules or licensing process for those business, and costs, including law enforcement-related costs, associated with having a dispensary in their town, according to media reports.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government has been tracking municipalities’ decisions through a Marijuana Opt-Out Tracker on its website, https://tinyurl.com/yckp23b3.

The tracker has been compiling data by reviewing the actions of local governing boards, media reports, legal notices, the passage of local laws, and submissions of local laws to the state Department of State.

As of Wednesday, the most recent update available, 619 municipalities out of 1,517, or 41%, had chosen to opt-out of allowing dispensaries, while 704, or 46%, of those municipalities had opted-out of allowing on-site consumption.

In Genesee County, 15 of 20 municipalities have opted out. The city of Batavia, village of Corfu, town of Darien, town of Pavilion and town of Pembroke had opted in to allowing dispensaries and consumption sites, according to the Rockefeller Institute tracker.

The village of Alexander voted 3-0 to opt out. Alexander Village Mayor William Wagner and trustees Matthew Grimes and Jason Breton were unanimous.

Wagner said the village needs better information and that officials have not been able to understand the information that has come from the state.

“It takes a New York City lawyer to understand this stuff. The fact is, a lot of it is just distrust to the state of New York,” he told The Daily News. “The business with, they were going to give us 3% (n sales tax from marijuana sales), things have a way of changing. We’ve had contracts broken before with governments.”

“Our town opted out, too. I just felt it was the right thing to do. We’re one commmunity,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the board understands the public has a chance to petition for a referendum. He hasn’t heard of anyone seeking a petition for one.

The mayor said three village residents spoke Tuesday about the opt-in/opt out issue.

“They weren’t in favor of opting in. They thought the best way to do it was to opt out,” Wagner said Thursday. “They wanted a lot more information than what was given by the state.”

The village had a public hearing Dec. 9, but there were no public comments made at the hearing, Wagner said.

“I think what it is, is people don’t want this,” he said of cannabis retail and consumption sites.

The town of Alabama, town of Alexander, town of Batavia, town of Bergen, village of Bergen, town of Bethany, town of Byron, town of Elba, village of Elba, town of Le Roy, village of Le Roy, town of Oakfield, village of Oakfield and town of Stafford have all opted out, according to the tracker.

The town of Byron voted, 4-1, Monday to opt out. Supervisor Peter Yasses, Eric Zuber, Suzanne Fuller and Jeff Thompson voted to opt out and Josh Kent voted against it, Yasses said.

Yasses said Thursday a few people attended a public hearing held Monday before the board’s vote. A couple of people spoke. They really didn’t have an opinion on the issue, he said, they just asked general questions about the 3% sales tax that would go to the town from cannabis sales and about the state’s regulations, which he says are vague.

The town supervisor said there was some discussion prior to the board vote.

“Zoning had a little bit to do with it,” Yasses said of the discussion. “The unknowns are the biggest factor — the unknowns from the state. You can always opt in later. Let’s see where the dust settles.”

Yasses said the town is not in touch with state with any questions about the cannabis sales and consumption sites issue.

“We’ll take the wait-and-see approach,” he said. “Money isn’t everything.”

Yasses said it doesn’t seem as if anyone is interested in petitioning for a referendum on the opt-out issue. He said other than the people who spoke Monday, the town has not had any input or questions from residents.

In Livingston County, the 13 municipalities that have recorded decision have split, with seven choosing to opt-out and six deciding to allow sales and consumption. There are 25 municipalities considering the law in Livingston County.

The town of Avon, village of Avon, village of Caledonia, village of Lima, town of Livonia and town of York were all opting in to allow dispensaries and consumption sites, according to the tracker.

Municipalities opting out included the town of Geneseo, village of Geneseo, village of Nunda and town of Ossian, according to the tracker.

In the village of Geneseo, residents express concern about the image of the community, the location of dispensaries and how it would affect law enforcement. Supporters noted the revenue to be expected or said they supported dispensaries and feared the board would act because of a stigma associated with marijuana.

The Town of Geneseo opted out by a vote of 3-to-2. Town Supervisor Will Wadsworth, who voted not to opt out, said he was concerned about the lost revenue and being able to recapture the revenue if the town opted-in in the future.

“As the town supervisor, I felt it was my job to do what i felt was best for the community and taxation is one of the key things that we do. As it gets harder and harder to stay under the 2% tax cap, we are looking for oportunities like this,” Wadsworth said.

The town of Consesus also voted to opt out, saying the main reason for doing was that it needed more time to put the proper zoning in place.

The town of North Dansville also voted to opt out. “They did not say they were against the whole thing but they have not quite got their act together in Albany and when they do they might be willing to look into it again,” said Town Clerk Tim Wolfanger. The village of Dansville also opted out and Wolfanger says it will revisit the decision in three months.

The town of Consesus, village of Dansville, and town of North Dansville all had hearings on Dec. 21.

In Orleans County, 10 municipalities opted out of allowing sales, while two opted in to sales, though all 12 opted out of on-site consumption. A total of 14 communities must decide.

The villages of Albion and Medina both opted in to allow dispensaries, but opted out of allowing consumption sites, according to the tracker. The Town of Kendall opted in to allow both dispensaries and allowing consumption sites.

Opting out to dispensaries and consumption sites were the town of Albion, town of Barre, town of Clarendon, village of Holley, village of Lyndonville, town of Murray, town of Ridgeway, town of Shelby and town of Yates, according to the tracker.

The town of Carlton had a public hearing scheduled for Thursday. There was no report for the Town of Gaines.

In Medina’s public hearing, Medina resident Gregory McCarthy said, “Banning dispensaries won’t stop the consumption of cannabis. Even Police Chief Chad Kenward stated people still buy it on the street. He also stated that marijuana on the street isn’t regulated and has fentanyl in it.”

McCarthy also spoke to dispelling the myth of marijuana being a gateway drug. He said the only reason it’s a gateway drug because it’s on the black market.

When voting to allow marijuana dispensaries, Albion Mayor Eileen Banker said she would rather see people walk or drive a short distance to downtown, buy their marijuana and return home.

“I’d rather see that than have them drive to Medina or Brockport and do whatever it is, whether smoking or edibles, and then drive back into Albion,” she said.

In Wyoming County, 10 communities have yet to make a decision, according to the tracker. Of those who have, eight opted out of sales, while six will allow, and while six will allow on-site consumption, nine will not.

The town and village of Arcade, town of Genesee Falls, town of Java, town of Sheldon and village of Warsaw had all opted in to allow dispensaries and consumption sites, according to the tracker.

“We’re not taking any action. The general consensus is unless you do something to prohibit the dispensaries, then there wouldn’t be a problem. The Board had the general consensus that they don’t want to take any action,” said outgoing Town of Java Supervisor Angela Brunner. “If someone wanted to open a dispensary, they would have to do what any other business would have to and follow the zoning regulations.”

Opting out were the town of Covington, town of Gainesville, town of Middlebury, town of Orangeville, village of Perry, town of Pike, village of Silver Springs and town of Warsaw. The village of Attica had opted out of on-site consumption, but had not reported a decision on dispensaries, according to the tracker.

The towns of Attica and Bennington had public hearings scheduled for this week. The town of Wethersfield, village of Wyoming and town of Castile had all conducted public hearings, but had not reported a decision, according to the tracker.

There were no reports for the village of Castile, town of Eagle or town of Perry.

Includes reporting by staff writers Brian Quinn, Mallory Diefenbach, Brendan McDonough and regional editor Ben Beagle.

source: https://www.thelcn.com/news/local/marijuana-law-as-deadline-arrives-most-in-glow-choose-to-opt-out/article_760271ec-376b-56ce-aeaf-9e56d84cf2ec.html

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