<< Back
State Licenses and Permits
CB5 Review for 72 Adult-Use Cannibis Retail Dispensary Licenses for Full Board Session of November 9th, 2023.
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, November 09, 2023, the following resolution passed with a vote of 32 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, New York State has legalized the production, sale, and use of recreational cannabis, which authorized the ability of the State to license retail cannabis dispensaries and establishments for on-site consumption; and
WHEREAS, The regulation of these establishments will be handled by the State, and the State has created a State Cannabis Control Board (the “CCB”) for that purpose; and
WHEREAS, Within certain guidelines, local governments and municipalities can pass laws and regulations governing the “Time”, “Place” and “Manner” of such establishments and their sale of cannabis; and
WHEREAS, Chapter II of Subtitle B of Title 9 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York has been amended to provide, for among other things, various rules regarding adult use cannabis and the licensing of adult-use retail dispensaries (“The Regulations”); and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five (“CB5” ) after due review and consideration at its February 2023 full board meeting adopted its Cannabis Task Force’s (“CTF”) Guidelines for the review of cannabis-related applications, (“The CTF Guidelines”); as well as the CB5 Guidelines on Cannabis Licensing (“The GCL”), and
WHEREAS, in September 2023 a significant number of first-time cannabis applicants (“The Applicants”), notified CB5 of their intention to apply for an Adult-Use Retail Cannabis License (“the Licenses) at locations within CB5 consisting of 72 Notices in total (See Exhibit 3, List of Notices Received), and of which 37 have been reviewed according to the methodology referenced in this Resolution (“The Resolution”), and of which time permitting 16 were found to be non-compliant (See Exhibit 2, “The Non-Compliant List”), and 27 were found to be compliant (See Exhibit 3, “The Compliant List”), and
WHEREAS, Applicants have been required to post public notices so as to inform the public of their openings, and also to provide photos of the postings to CB5, for the purpose of allowing public comment with neighboring residents and business, and
WHEREAS, Efforts to date for previous reviews, CB5 employed substantial and comprehensive due diligence for Applicants which consisted of a long-form detailed questionnaire, community meetings between the CTF and Applicants and local businesses and neighbors, and a thorough review of the Applicant as to Time, Place and Manner according to The CTF Guidelines and the GCL with the goal of surveying the overall method of operation of the Applicants and its suitability for the neighborhood of choice. The crush of applications in volume and short time frame which given the timetable of the State and CCB regulatory schema may prevail in the coming months, given CB5 resources and state-mandated deadlines, does not allow for such an effort for the current round of Applicants, and
WHEREAS, As a practical and pragmatic solution to this challenge, CB5 requested that the Applicants respond to a “short-form” online questionnaire drafted to be consistent with the CTF Guidelines and the CGL as well as the State and City Cannabis Law and Regulations, to be submitted to CB5 no later than Friday Oct 27th, 2023 by 12:00 p.m. EST/EDT. CB5, as stated previously, received 37 online questionnaire responses all within our district through October 31, 2023, with few Applicants confirming the posting of notices completed or submitting photos;
WHEREAS, On account of this approach the review process has of necessity had a much narrower focus looking primarily at Applicant site location and distances according the CB5 GCL, and
WHEREAS, CB5’s review methodology for the Applicants may only be approved, as per CTF Guidelines and the GCL, provided that the proposed location is no less than: 1,000 feet from an existing cannabis establishment; 500 feet from a school; 500 feet from a community facility; 200 feet from a house of worship; and 500 feet from a harm reduction facility; and
WHEREAS, CB5, in an effort that goes beyond State and City guidelines, calls for in the case of adult-use cannabis retail establishments only, the following additional distance requirements of 500 feet from a park or a public space; as well as 1,000 feet from a playground; and
WHEREAS, CB5, again in an effort that goes beyond State and City guidelines per the CTF Guidelines and the GCL as to Time, calls for closure no later than 1 AM Sundays thru Wednesdays and 2 AM on Thursdays through Saturdays for adult-use cannabis retail establishments that reside within the prescribed vicinity of residential buildings; and where sites fall within any of CB5’s “Restricted Licensing Areas” (“RLAs”) to the extent that any requirements applicable within such RLA with regard to hours of operation are more restrictive than those provided in these guidelines the application shall comply with the more restrictive requirements of such RLA; and
WHEREAS, For CB5, the current situation does not allow enough time for what CB5 considers a complete due diligence effort, particularly as to the “Manner” prong of the State, City, and CB5 standard for the current 37 applications and therefore, of necessity, reserves the right to comment later to the CCB on the Applicants, and
WHEREAS, CB5 for purposes of the Applicants under review, describes the Applicants as compliant or non-compliant for the most part based on strictly satisfying the GCL-prescribed opening and closing times along with distances employing information taken from the short-form questionnaires, community input, and on-line mapping tools (using the software tools allowing for a “distance walked” standard). CB5, feels strongly that this process leads to a much less accurate result taking into account the absence of on-site visits, personal meetings with Applicants, and direct discussion with local businesses and neighbors, and therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That CB5 recommends denial of adult-use cannabis license applications determined to be non-compliant with the Community Board 5 guidelines, with a list (See Exhibit 2 – The Non-Compliant List) of why each application was deemed non-compliant using our best efforts given the situation and methodology described in this Resolution for each offending location.
RESOLVED, That CB5 recommends to deny UNLESS the adult-use cannabis license applications allow for the process of full review in compliance with Community Board 5 guidelines given the situation and methodology described in this Resolution with a list (See Exhibit 1- the Compliant List) of applications that fall under this category.
RESOLVED, That CB5 reserves the right to comment on the “Manner” prong of the “Time, Place, and Manner” standard called for in the CTF Guidelines the GCL at a later time given the situation described in this Resolution .
Compliant Addresses
140 WEST 34TH STREET
251 5TH AVENUE
31 EAST 28TH STREET
342 7TH AVENUE
369 7TH AVENUE
381 5TH AVENUE
40 EAST 20TH STREET
461 7TH AVENUE
762 8TH AVENUE
Noncompliant Addresses
1010 6TH AVE
1027 6TH AVENUE
1177 BROADWAY
12 EAST 42ND STREET
161 WEST 54TH STREET
163 WEST 48TH STREET
241 5TH AVENUE
249 WEST 34TH STREET
400 MADISON AVENUE
412 8TH AVENUE
49 WEST 55TH STREET
52 WEST 27TH STREET
566 7TH AVENUE
587 5TH AVENUE
59 WEST 31ST STREET
719 7TH AVENUE
728 8TH AVENUE
761 7TH AVENUE
8 WEST 28TH STREET
846 6TH AVENUE
875 6TH AVENUE
99 WEST 27TH STREET
(W35th St/6th Ave)
(W28th btwn 5th and Broadway)
Address
200 ft (House of worship)
500 ft (School, Park/Public space)
1010 6TH AVE
151 ft (New York Garden Church)
1027 6TH AVENUE
16 ft (Millinery Center Synagogue)
523 ft (Bryant Park)
1177 BROADWAY
276 ft (1185 Broadway POPS @ 28 W 28th St)
12 EAST 42ND STREET
200 ft (NYPL/Bryant Park)
161 WEST 54TH STREET
260 ft (151 W 54th St POPS)
163 WEST 48TH STREET
249 ft (1221 6th Ave POPS)
241 5TH AVENUE
397 ft (Madison Square Park)
249 WEST 34TH STREET
100 ft (1 Penn Plaza)
400 MADISON AVENUE
410 ft (280 Park Ave POPS)
412 8TH AVENUE
286 ft (Moynihan Train Hall)
49 WEST 55TH STREET
470 ft (1345 6th Ave POPS)
587 5TH AVENUE
0 ft (בית יצחק - אוהל שרה)
335 ft (12 E 49th St POPS)
52 WEST 27TH STREET
33 ft (The Capitol Plaza)
566 7TH AVENUE
400 ft (1411 Broadway POPS)
59 WEST 31ST STREET
291 ft (Greeley Square Park)
719 7TH AVENUE
302 ft (Father Duffy Square)
728 8TH AVENUE
423 ft (Family School West)
761 7TH AVENUE
223 ft (745 Plaza)
8 WEST 28TH STREET
407 ft (1185 Broadway POPS)
846 6TH AVENUE
250 ft (835 6th Ave POPS)
875 6TH AVENUE
226 ft (Greeley Square Park)
99 WEST 27TH STREET
240 ft (The Capitol Plaza)
(W35th St/6th Ave)
0 ft (Herald Square)
(W28th btwn 5th and Broadway)
500 ft (1185 Broadway POPS)
Additional addresses that did not submit questionnaire
1149 BROADWAY
122 EAST 25TH STREET
124 WEST 30TH STREET
1263 BROADWAY
13 EAST 47TH STREET
1701 BROADWAY
203-205 WEST 28TH STREET
214 WEST 30TH STREET
24 WEST 40TH STREET
26 WEST 20TH STREET
299 7TH AVENUE
314 WEST 30TH STREET
34 WEST 56TH STREET
35 EAST 21ST STREET
43 WEST 33RD STREET
6 WEST 28TH STREET
60 EAST 34TH STREET
621 WEST 46TH STREET
65 WEST 55TH STREET
66 MADISON AVENUE
670 6TH AVENUE
7 EAST 53RD STREET
721 7TH AVENUE
723 7TH AVENUE
730 LEXINGTON AVENUE
76 MADISON AVENUE
777 7TH AVENUE
958 6TH AVENUE