KINGSTON, N.Y. — Despite a rollout out of the state’s cannabis marketplace that Gov. Kathy Hochul recently declared a “disaster,” area connoisseurs looking to purchase cannabis locally have reason to hope.
Applications for retail cannabis dispensaries are pending or have been approved in five of the 18 Ulster County municipalities that allow such businesses within their municipal boundaries. In Dutchess County, one of the four municipalities that opened their doors to the new industry have seen two applicants come forward with proposals.
Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, who formerly served on the Cannabis Control Board, said she was pleased that applications are moving through the pipeline at last.
“I think that it’s great that things are finally moving,” said Metzger on Thursday. “We’ve been in a situation where many farmers have produced all of this cannabis and they don’t have any markets, retail markets, so this is good for our agricultural community in Ulster County.”
Metzger said she was particularly excited that one of the applications — Home Grown Dispensary — is for a microbusiness, which allows small business owners to grow, process and sell their cannabis.
“I think that the opportunity for our farmers to get microbusiness licenses is really a great one because it’s supporting this craft, from seed to sale on small scale,” she said. “That’s great for our small farm economy.”
Still, in the more than three years since New York state legalized the sale of cannabis, there is only one licensed dispensary operating in Ulster County and none in Northern Dutchess, although there is a dispensary in Poughkeepsie and another in Fishkill, according to the state Office of Cannabis Management website.
Statewide, there are 132 adult-use recreational cannabis dispensaries, according to the website, including Big Gas Dispensary, Ulster County’s first licensed pot shop, which opened April 17 in New Paltz.
An “overhaul” of the state Office of Cannabis Management was announced on May 10 by Hochul.
The overhaul follows the release of an assessment conducted by a team led by Jeanette Moy, commissioner of the Office of General Services, which identified “significant structural limitations” to the Office of Cannabis Management that have affected the agency’s ability to fulfill its mandate to efficiently establish New York State’s cannabis marketplace, Hochul said at a press conference.
A survey of local municipalities revealed the following:
• The City of Kingston Planning Board has approved a site plan application by Alissa Nowak for a dispensary at 365 S. Wall St.
• The Town of Ulster Planning Board is considering a special permit and site plan application from Jennifer Dundas, for a dispensary to be known as Sage Cannabis, located at 268 Forest Drive. The town has also received notification from Rich Rainone, doing business as Seven Forty Eight, LLC, that the state Office of Cannabis Management has issued him a license and he will seek town approval for a dispensary at 1099 Ulster Ave. Additionally, the town has received notices from Shivani Patel, doing business as Kingston Cannabis LLC, and from Matthew Tallarico, doing business as Bloom Organic Cannabis and CBD Store, that they are seeking state licenses to open pot shops in the town. If granted the licenses, Patel indicated he would seek permission to open a dispensary at 1221 Ulster Ave. while Tallarico indicated he would seek approval for a dispensary at 1220 Ulster Ave.
• The Village of New Paltz Planning Board is currently considering an application for a second pot shop, to be known as The Herbal Confectionary. If approved, the dispensary would be located at 3 Water St.
• The Marbletown Planning Board held a public hearing on May 20 on an application by Back Home Farm for a microbusiness and retail shop at 3056 U.S. Route 209.
• In Northern Dutchess, the town of Red Hook has approved a site plan application by Upstate Pines for a dispensary at 7345 South Broadway. The village of Red Hook has approved an application by Lofty for a microbusiness and dispensary at 7536 North Broadway.
• According to planning boards in Denning, Gardiner, Rosendale, Woodstock, Olive, Shandaken, Hurley, Rochester and the village of Saugerties, no applications for adult-use retail stores have been submitted for consideration.
• The towns of New Paltz, Hardenburgh and Lloyd did not respond to a Freeman inquiry. The towns of Esopus, Plattekill, Shawangunk and Warwarsing opted out of allowing cannabis dispensaries in those communities. It is unclear whether the town of Marlborough allows retail sales.
