The Town of Rochester Town Board held a public hearing on proposed Local Law A-2023, § 125, Subdivision on February 23, 2023, at 6:00pm at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Road Accord, NY 12404.
PRESENT:
Councilman Michael Coleman Councilwoman Erin Enouen
Councilman Adam Paddock Councilwoman Charlotte Smiseth
Supervisor Michael Coleman Deputy Town Clerk Christina Ferrara
Supervisor Baden called the public hearing to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Rick Jones: Subdivision and Re-Subdivision of lands create a lot of confusion. Number three may need to have clarification; every re-subdivision is going to add new lots.
HOLD PUBLIC HEARING OPEN:
Resolution # 134 -2023;
Motion: Councilwoman Smiseth
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board will hold the public hearing on proposed local law
# A-2023: § 125, Subdivision open with a date to be determined at another time.
Aye: 5 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
CHRISTINA FERRARA
DEPUTY TOWN CLERK
The Town of Rochester Town Board held a public hearing on proposed Local Law B-2023 § 140-32.1, Adult Use Cannabis Retail Dispensary and On-Site Cannabis Consumption Facility on February 23, 2023, at 6:05pm at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Road Accord, NY 12404.
PRESENT:
Councilman Michael Coleman Councilwoman Erin Enouen
Councilman Adam Paddock Councilwoman Charlotte Smiseth
Supervisor Michael Coleman Deputy Town Clerk Christina Ferrara
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Resident: I’d like to see the town treat this the same as bars I don’t like the hours of operation. We need to be careful; some things are a focus towards children.
Rick Horst: I’d like to share a comment about New York State Regulations. They have extremely strict anti-child packaging. If it’s a legal dispensary, you wouldn’t see anything towards children.
Patricia Horst: News has covered stories on Copy-Cat products, very scary.
Rick Jones: I’m fine with the retail sales, not crazy about consumption. In terms of packaging, those rules are part of New York State law, correct?
Jay Martin: I am opposed to Local Law B-2023 for many reasons. Any plan, any law, no matter how well thought out, always has unintended consequences. Anyone that has a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) must submit to random drug tests. It would be interesting to see who’d be using this facility for consumption. I think we’ve taken a step down in our culture. I’ve taught in the Rondout Valley School District for three decades. I’ve seen a lot with kids coming into school stoned. There are parents who permit parties in their houses, have underage drinking. You don’t think that’s going to happen with cannabis? I do. I think you have to be very careful about this, it’s a mind-altering drug, same as alcohol no matter how mild. I hope the board will do the right thing for the Town, lets step up a level or two. Thank You.
Resident: What the gentleman just said is a moot point now. I believe this is the first time with discussion and its already law.
Jay Martin: Laws can be repealed and/or amended.
John Dunning: Just like anything else, if you don’t want to go to a bar, then don’t. For example, what about people who have a terminal illness, maybe it could help someone be comfortable at the end-of-life stages. It’s not always about just getting high, I think this could be a good thing.
Alex: We live in a society where synthetic drugs are created and can be something worse than cannabis verses something pure. Yes, there are going to be issues. We talk about drugs; we all need drugs. Its not the drug itself, it’s the abuse of drugs. If we don’t have it, people will go get it, so I don’t understand why stop everything. There are options, enforcement and regulation are good.
Resident: About the 500 ft distance, I’d like to see it farther away possibly like 1,000 ft.
Can the Town Board CHANGE (in the proposed law) the distance (from schools, kids places, churches, etc.) and the hours of operation of both dispensaries and/or consumption bars.
marijuana consumption bars open till 2 AM sounds UNreal for our town!
Patricia Horst: There are black market items out there. New York State is regulated so we would be getting a better product if people want to partake.
Resident: Do we have the ability in the town to say we’re okay with dispensaries but do not want a bar? To me a dispensary makes more sense, you make your purchase, you go home. A place for consumption, you’d use the product, go out on the road. That is a real concern for me.
Resident: If and when someone applies for a permit, I would hope we could have some discussion so the public can be informed even if the permit is denied.
John Dunning: I wouldn’t want to be the person that applies for a permit to use on-site because of liability. The state cannabis industry is highly regulated. They have cameras on every single plant, each plant has basically a number that goes with the life of the plant until its harvested. The fact that they can keep track and regulate the potency of the plant as compared to buying off the street is a bonus knowing the plants lifespan.
Kira- Phone Call: Calling in as a farmer working with a grower with a conditional recreational grower’s license. That person is looking to buy property to be able to run a potential micro-business. In the future it will be limited to the amount they are able to grow but it gives the farmer the ability to control from top to bottom the process of growing and selling. The way New York State has this system set up is they must wholesale the product out. Or they must use a processor, turn the product into something else, they take a cut, and sell to the dispensaries. So, switching over to micro-businesses allows the farmer to control more of a business entity and hopefully remain viable in this industry. I’m calling about housing, the dispensary aspect would have to be under lockdown by very strict state laws with cameras and security. When looking in our region and lack of housing for especially farm workers, if we go through with this and can put up a building for this process, we would also be very interested to have housing for the people that would be working with us. When you bring in foreign workers in agriculture; one of the requirements is to have housing. It’s very expensive and difficult to find especially seasonal workers where people are here for 6-8 months. Trying to rent anything for that is near impossibility. When we look around at the few dispensaries there are in the state now, in a bigger town or city is a building that has residential units above it or attached. Is this a necessary limitation?
Thank You
Rick “Horst”- Resident: This is a proposed regulation on a state level. It would allow licensing of micro-businesses. It would be limited in scale, ability to grow / sell. For example, there’s the farm, there’s the farmstand that’s the concept she is referring.
HOLD PUBLIC HEARING OPEN:
Resolution # 135 -2023
Motion:
Second:
The Town of Rochester Town Board will hold the public hearing on proposed local law Law B-2023 § 140-32.1, Adult Use Cannabis Retail Dispensary and On-Site Cannabis Consumption Facility open with a date to be determined at another time.
Aye: 5 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
CHRISTINA FERRARA
DEPUTY TOWN CLERK