Newly opened Simply Green cannabis shop challenges Brookhaven zoning laws

A Coram cannabis store that opened last month has become the latest Long Island pot shop to challenge what its owners say are overly restrictive local zoning laws that make it difficult for them to stay in business.

Simply Green opened Nov. 7 at 406 Middle Country Rd., two months after receiving a state license that allows the store to operate for at least two years. But Brookhaven Town officials said this week the store is on land that is not zoned for cannabis shops. 

The store property's zoning allows downtown-style businesses but does not allow cannabis stores, officials said. Brookhaven's town code restricts pot dispensaries to areas zoned for industrial uses.

Simply Green's owners said this week that they went through all the necessary state and town channels to obtain approvals. They said they have asked state cannabis officials to rule on whether Brookhaven's zoning is "unreasonably impracticable."

The state Office of Cannabis Management, which issued Simply Green's operating license, said Monday in a letter to the store's owners that it is reviewing their request. The letter added that Simply Green must "adhere to applicable local laws," but did not accuse the store of breaking any rules.

“Where it goes from here, we don’t know," Simply Green co-owner Fred Wightman said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It was not supposed to be this difficult to go through.” 

Co-owner Amanda Losco said business has been strong since the store opened.

“We had some hurdles along the way, but we’re happy the way things have come together,” she said Monday in a phone interview. “It’s obviously a new territory for [this] kind of business, but we pretty much stick to everything by the book.”

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, in recent emails to Newsday, said Simply Green should not have been allowed to open because it violates town zoning codes.

"Towns were told they would have the authority to establish zoning for adult-use cannabis," Panico wrote Monday in an email. "This is an issue of municipal home rule authority, of incredible overreach by the state of New York and a clear violation of our zoning authority."

Brookhaven is one of only four Long Island towns that opted to permit cannabis sales when the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2021. The others are Babylon, Riverhead and Southampton. Only about 10 pot shops have opened in those towns, according to the Long Island Cannabis Coalition, a trade group.

Simply Green is one of three pot dispensaries in Brookhaven, joining others in East Setauket and Farmingville. A fourth, in Medford, is expected to open by the end of this month. 

State law grants municipalities limited authority over cannabis stores, including hours of operation, traffic control, odor, noise and architectural features.

Several pot stores in the towns of Riverhead and Southampton also have questioned local zoning laws. The state Cannabis Control Board in October issued advisory opinions stating that both towns had imposed "unreasonably impracticable” zoning rules to block the shops from operating.

Wightman said the opinions in the Riverhead and Southampton cases "gave us the ammunition” to challenge Brookhaven's laws.

Assemb. Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson) said Tuesday she has drafted a bill that would require state cannabis officials to verify applicants are complying with local zoning before they receive operating licenses. 

Kassay said in a phone interview that the current practice of approving state licenses before store owners obtain town zoning approvals puts Brookhaven and other municipalities in a difficult position.

“Now the onus seems to be on the township to say, 'Well, OK, we have a dispensary that is open and selling and has a license from the state agency, but is not in compliance with the town’s zoning,'” she said. “It's a head-scratcher to me that we’re in this position."

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.