Riverhead Zoning Leaves Cannabis Dispensaries Strung Out

The dreams of prospective cannabis retailers in North Fork’s Riverhead are in danger of going up in smoke.

A number of disputes and controversies are lighting up discussion around marijuana distributors in the town, Newsday reported. Zoning is at the heart of several of these disputes.

Tink & E. Co filed a lawsuit against the town in Suffolk State Supreme Court after the zoning board of appeals rejected a variance at 1201 Ostrander Avenue, at which it was planning to open a cannabis shop. The former bank base is zoned for retail use, but isn’t accessible from Old Country Road, violating a town rule that cannabis shops must front a main road if they are within 1,000 feet of homes.

An attorney for Tink said the site is perfect for the dispensary due to its ample parking and safe storage.

Two other potential cannabis retailers filed affidavits in the case, showing how the lawsuit may ripple across the town’s burgeoning marijuana industry.

Cannabis sales have been a hot-button issue in the town for some time. A temporary restraining order blocked the town from issuing more permits to dispensaries, but that order was lifted when developers objected. As a result, two pot shops opened last fall.

Now, other businesses are clamoring to open in Riverhead, but the sector’s growth is still in danger of being smoked out. The town doesn’t allow dispensaries to open within 2,500 feet of one another, leaving applicants jockeying to get in the door before being squeezed out of space.

An attorney for one dispensary applicant expressed frustration that local zoning codes and state statutes don’t seem to mix.

“Riverhead is sort of pitting these dispensaries against each other in a way that I don’t think the state ever intended,” the attorney told Newsday.

Her client’s dispensary, about 1,600 feet away from Tink’s proposed business, has another issue: it’s within 1,000 feet of a high school. The state prohibits dispensaries within 500 feet of schools, but the client, Brian Stark, is still being forced to obtain a variance due to concern from local officials about students walking by.

— Holden Walter-Warner