By THANE GRAUEL
The Pound Ridge Town Board on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on a proposed zoning regulation that might leave Purple Plains the only cannabis dispensary in town.
The public hearing will be held at the board’s next meeting, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Town House, 179 Westchester Ave., and via Zoom.
Also on the agenda for the meeting is a public hearing on whether to allow the thin blue line to get a little grayer. The board might increase the maximum age of part-time police officer hires from 55 to 70.
A recreational cannabis ripple effect?
The cannabis issue has been hanging in the air for several years, since New York state legalized the recreational sale of marijuana products in March 2021. The state offered municipalities an opt-out window, which closed Dec. 31, 2021, but Pound Ridge let the deadline pass without action.
The town board later asked the state Legislature to reopen the opt-out window, but the effort was unsuccessful.
The issue launched an election challenge to Town Supervisor Kevin Hansan and Democratic town board members last year led by John McCown and a party that was formed, the Pound Ridge Party. McCown sought to unseat Hansan in the November election and came close with more than 40% of the vote. Two of the new party’s candidates for town board also lost.
It also led to a lawsuit against the town by the owners of Purple Plains, a cannabis dispensary that opened, legally, in a former wine shop in Scotts Corners in April. The suit challenged a town board moratorium on cannabis dispensaries, alleging town officials mishandled the initial filing (in June, the moratorium was extended another six months). Purple Plains has remained in business.
And most recently, the cannabis issue sparked a lawsuit by a local lawyer and longtime resident, John E. Nathan.
Nathan, who has said he doesn’t care one way or the other on the cannabis issue but only about process and the rule of law, alleges in his suit that the town board, unlike all surrounding towns, did not hold a public hearing to hear the citizenry’s views on whether cannabis dispensaries should be allowed.
The town earlier this year commissioned a lengthy report from a consultant on the cannabis issue and how local zoning might address it.
The proposed zoning regulation is just four pages.
It restricts a new dispensary’s opening within 500 feet of public or private school grounds, within 500 feet of a public youth facility, or within 200 feet of a house of worship.
Also, it states cannabis dispensaries and consumption sites “shall not be located within a 2,000-foot-radius of another cannabis dispensary or consumption site.”
Purple Plains is located at 32 Westchester Ave. With the town’s business district being less than sprawling, that sounds like Purple Plains could be the last man standing, at least for now, in its line of business.
Hansan did not disagree in an interview with The Recorder on Tuesday.
“It would be very difficult to get into the district,” he said of the proposed rules.
“Most of that comes from the state,” he said, “we just put it in there to be consistent with the state.”
Hansan said he didn’t expect a lot of discussion on the topic Tuesday night because many concerns that had been raised were included in the proposed regulation.
Nathan, meanwhile, told The Recorder on Tuesday the town requested an extension to reply to his suit, until Oct. 18, and he agreed. But he took issue with Hansan’s earlier comments on his complaint, which the supervisor called “100% false.” Nathan said the evidence he provided the court was drawn entirely from the town board and official records.
The Purple Plains suit is still pending, co-owner Mark Buzzetto said Wednesday. Asked if he had an opinion on the proposed zoning regulations, he said he leaves that to the lawyers and didn’t want to comment.
While opponents of cannabis have been outspoken, there appear to be plenty of people glad to have Purple Plains in business. Buzzetto said the store has about a hundred customers daily, many of them from Pound Ridge.
“Everyone walks in with a smile, and leaves with a smile,” he said.
McCown, meanwhile, sent out an email Wednesday thanking those who had supported his suggested changes to the draft regulation. He urged them to attend Tuesday’s public hearing.
“This public hearing is your opportunity to ask questions and to have your voice heard on this matter,” he wrote. “I encourage anyone with an interest in this to consider attending the Tuesday meeting in person or via Zoom.”
Finding police officers an ongoing challenge
The town board also might decide Tuesday night, after holding a public hearing, whether to extend the maximum age of new part-time police officers from 55 to 70.
“In the town of Pound Ridge, Westchester County, part-time patrolmen at the time of appointment must be at least 21 years of age and not more than 55 years of age," Hansan wrote to fellow board members in August. “I would like to amend Section 21-4 to state, ‘In the town of Pound Ridge, Westchester County, part-time police officers at the time of appointment must be at least 21 years of age and not more than 70 years of age.’”
“This change will help the town attract more retired officers who may consider extending their careers as part-time police officers in Pound Ridge,” Hansan wrote.
“It’s a big problem we have in the town of Pound Ridge,” Hanson told The Recorder on Tuesday. “They’re capped on how much they’re allowed to work and how much they’re allowed to make.”
Those restrictions are pension rules for retired officers, who can’t work too many hours without compromising retirement pay. The town requested state legislation to raise the requirement and was not successful, Hansan said.