Riverhead considers freeze on new cannabis shops

The Town of Riverhead is considering a moratorium on new cannabis shops after a state judge struck down its zoning laws as too restrictive, frustrating town officials over the degree of local control they maintain over the businesses.

The town board set an Aug. 19 hearing on the proposal, which would freeze approvals for dispensaries for one year while the town seeks legal clarity and addresses lingering community concerns.

The proposal is a response to a recent ruling by Judge Paul M. Hensley that state dispensary laws preempt Riverhead Town code. Town code requires dispensaries be spaced 2,500 feet apart. State rules are less restrictive, setting a 1,000-foot buffer between cannabis businesses.

Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard said there’s "a lot of inconsistency" in the state cannabis law and questions over distance requirements from schools and churches.

"They don’t affirmatively say that they’re superseding or preempting any greater limitations that have been established through local legislation," Howard said in an interview. "That’s something that needs to be sorted out on appeal."

The town plans to appeal Hensley’s ruling, which sided with the owner of a proposed dispensary, Tink & E. Co., at 1201 Ostrander Ave.

Riverhead’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied a variance for a dispensary at the site because it does not have frontage along a major commercial corridor and is within 1,000 feet of residential neighborhoods.

Hensley said the applicant does not need a variance and may seek a building permit and certificate of occupancy.

Effect on applicants

But plans for that dispensary, and another at 1086 Old Country Rd., would likely be held up if the town approves a moratorium.

Andrew Schriever, an attorney for Tink & E. Co., called the town’s plan "disappointing" in an interview Thursday.

"The court’s decision was pretty clear," he said. "Having come this far and having received an opinion where the court literally described ... the town's behavior as discriminatory against my client, I think it’s ill advised."

Two dispensaries, Strain Stars and Beleaf, opened in Riverhead last fall. Another dispensary, Planet Nugg in East Farmingdale, won approval from the town planning board Thursday to open a second location at 720 Main Rd. in Aquebogue. Planet Nugg would be exempt from the moratorium.

A third, at the corner of Route 58 and Ostrander Avenue in a former car dealership, has preliminary approval from the town but does not have a state dispensary license.

The towns of Riverhead, Brookhaven, Babylon and Southampton voted to allow marijuana sales after the state legalized the drug in 2021.

State law does not allow municipalities to opt out after opting in, though towns that initially opted out can later reverse course.

Islip Town officials recently considered allowing recreational marijuana sales but tabled the measure last month, Newsday reported.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said when the town board voted to opt in, the state gave assurances there would be local control in regulating "time, place and manner" of cannabis sales.

"We feel that the state is basically weakening our grip on these dispensaries," he said in an interview. "My vote probably would have been in the other direction if I knew that the state was going to try to be overriding the town."

A draft of the moratorium also cites "significant" public concern about the proliferation of cannabis dispensaries and a recent state error that miscalculated distances between licensed dispensaries and schools. The error put more than 100 licensees in jeopardy.

One dispensary proposed in Southampton is affected by that state review, Newsday reported last week. The licensee, Birchwyn & Tess LLC, wants to open at 471 County Road 39 but was cited by the state Office of Cannabis Management because it's too close to the Tuckahoe School. A memo on Wednesday from the state Office of Cannabis Management said the store can now open.

An online petition to stop the "over saturation" of dispensaries in Riverhead had about 86 signatures on Friday. It urges town lawmakers to reconsider the number of dispensaries allowed.