By THANE GRAUEL
A longtime Pound Ridge resident and lawyer is suing the town and the town board over the handling of the state’s 2021 cannabis dispensary opt-out legislation.
John E. Nathan filed his 33-page lawsuit Monday afternoon, Aug. 26, in New York state Supreme Court. It alleges 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.
‘In 2021, members of the town board in private and secretly gathered information, deliberated, discussed, and collectively decided not to local opt out before the Dec. 31, 2021 deadline.’ — John E. Nathan
Pound Ridge did not opt out.
Instead, Nathan alleges in his complaint, the town board had discussions, sought legal input, and made decisions outside of the public’s view, and then let the clock run down on the state’s opt-out provision, Dec. 31, 2001.
That, Nathan says, violated the New York Open Meetings Law and deprived the populace of a chance to express their opinions.
And, he alleges, because decisions were made outside of the public eye, there was no way for people to know what happened, or to challenge them in a timely manner. He said that three years later his lawsuit was the only redress that remained.
‘It’s a frivolous lawsuit, 100% false, and it’s wasting the town a lot of money and resources. It’s just wasting time and money.’ — Town Supervisor Kevin Hansan
“Because the town board decided not to local opt-out in private, in secret, off-the-books, without notice, without a public hearing, without a public town board meeting, and without any minutes of its decision, there was no way for plaintiff or other town residents to know that the town board had decided not to local opt-out before the Dec. 31, 2021 deadline,” Nathan wrote in his complaint.
Nathan cited in his suit numerous documents he obtained through the state’s Freedom of Information Law, including communications from several town board members saying they would not support an opt out.
“In 2021, members of the town board in private and secretly gathered information, deliberated, discussed, and collectively decided not to local opt-out before the Dec. 31, 2021 deadline,” he wrote.
The cannabis issue has been divisive in Pound Ridge, and in communities near and far.
Nathan said in his lawsuit that 40 of 42 speakers at a later Pound Ridge meeting on the issue spoke against allowing local dispensaries.
Town Supervisor Kevin Hansan had a different take.
He told The Recorder the lawsuit is frivolous.
“He’s claiming something that’s 100% false,” Hansan said. “It’s a frivolous lawsuit, 100% false, and it’s wasting the town a lot of money and resources. It’s just wasting time and money.”
Town Attorney William Harrington did not return a request for comment.
Nathan has lived in town 30 years, has never held public office and, he said in an interview, doesn't intend to. He said he heard about the issue in a roundabout way two years after the opt-out window closed, and reviewed the town’s newsletters and listened to 18 hours of meetings.
“As I laid out in my papers, only one minute was devoted to this at the beginning, and there was this radio silence the whole time,” Nathan said.
“I’m not for or against cannabis,” Nathan said. “I’m only for one thing, which is the fact that this rule of law was violated.”
“We never got a hearing,” he said. “We didn’t get a hearing before the board, we didn’t get a hearing before the Office of Cannabis Management, the Legislature wouldn’t help us, the Committee on Open Meetings Law wouldn’t hear my evidence, and then there’s this lawsuit going on between the town and Purple Plains and we’re not party to it, so we are totally frustrated.”
“As an experienced litigator, I always resort to litigation as a last resort because it’s so grave a step,” Nathan said. “I just felt we had to answer this conduct, and that’s why I brought the case.”
Nathan’s suit requests that the court:
— Void the town board’s alleged decision to not opt out of the cannabis legislation.
— Permanently enjoin the town and the town board from “engaging in or taking part in any private, secret, off-the-books deliberations and actions in the future or otherwise violating the New York Open Meetings Law.”
— Require that the board reconsider its prior decision.
— Require that “members of the town board participate in a training session concerning the obligations imposed by New York Open Meetings Law, to be conducted by the staff of the New York State Committee on Open Government.”
— Award the plaintiff costs and attorney’s fees.
— Award the plaintiff “such other and further relief as this court deems just and proper.”
Purple Plains is an adult-use retail dispensary located at 32 Westchester Ave. It applied for a state license in 2023 prior to the town board’s passage of a six-month moratorium on the opening of future such businesses in December of last year.
At its June 4 meeting, the town board approved a six-month extension of the moratorium, which covers the business district in Scotts Corners. Nathan was among residents urging town officials to approve the extension.
In addition, the town is currently developing legislation that would regulate the operation of local cannabis businesses. The town board is expected to review a new draft of the proposed law in September.