BUFFALO, N.Y. — Recreational adult-use cannabis only became legal back in March of 2021, but since then local governments have been holding public hearings to try and figure out whether to opt out of having cannabis dispensaries and/or consumption sites within their limits.
A 2 On Your Side analysis of Erie County town, village, and city meeting minutes found that 17 municipalities are choosing to stay out of the cannabis game, for now.
Seven others are dipping a toe and saying no to consumption sites, but yes to dispensaries. For analysis involving areas outside of Erie County click the link at the bottom of this story.
Statewide?
"We've had around I think 400 to 500 municipalities opt out, I think, of 1,600, and that may sound like a lot. But when you look at it from a population perspective, the majority of people in New York State live somewhere that could potentially have a dispensary," said Allan Gandelman, President for the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association (NYCGP).
That's because, Gandelman said, most of the state's cities including Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and Buffalo are by default opting in to the state's cannabis program.
Unlike the 24 Erie County towns and villages that have either said 'no' to both dispensaries and consumption or just one, the way the state law is written, unless a local government overrules Albany with a local law written and passed by Dec. 31, municipalities are automatically enrolled in the program.
But just because a town or village is enrolled doesn't mean that cannabis dispensaries and so-called 'cannabis bars' will be opening anytime soon. That's because the New York State Office of Cannabis Management has yet to release licensing information for retail businesses and growers.
"It's hard to know how the regulations will play out, there is still a lot of stuff in the air. So when these regulations come out early next year we'll have a little bit more details about what we can and can not do around the state," Gandelman said.
That delay in regulations, however, has not stopped eager entrepreneurs like Thomas Snider from planning ahead. Snider tried to petition the Town of Lancaster to hold a referendum and let town residents vote. The petition came up short by a few hundred votes and Lancaster chose to opt out, but that isn't stopping Snider from eyeing another location for his "Helpful Cafe Cannabis" dispensary in another town.
Municipalities that are opting out will reserve the right to change their decision in the future. Either through a referendum vote, like Snider tried for, or by approving another local law that overrules the initial one.
Erie County Municipalities Opting Out of Dispensaries and Consumption Sites
- Village of Akron
- Village of Alden
- Town of Aurora
- Town of Brant
- Town of Clarence
- Town of Colden
- Town of Collins
- Town of Elma
- Village of Gowanda
- Town of Holland
- Town of Lancaster
- Town of Marilla
- Town of Newstead
- Town of North Collins
- Village of Orchard Park
- Town of Wales
- Village of Williamsville
*UPDATE: Town of Evans drafted legislation to opt out but ultimately that legislation failed
Erie County Municipalities Only Opting Out of Consumption Sites
If you live in Erie County and your local government isn't on this list, it's likely your town or village board choose the default option and will enter the cannabis program anyways. The Town of Amherst is one example of that.
For towns, villages, and cities in Western New York's seven other counties and Genesee and Orleans Counties in the Finger Lakes Region, the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government has been tracking the decisions that every municipality statewide has been making.