Rose Van Wormer, an election inspector and village resident, casts her vote in the village's cannabis election on Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid voters on Tuesday decided to overturn the village’s cannabis laws and allow cannabis dispensaries and on-site consumption licensing. On-site consumption licensing, or proposition two, appears to have gotten the green light by one vote, though the results haven’t yet been certified.

Recreational marijuana was legalized statewide last March, and local governments had until Dec. 31, 2021 to pass local laws opting out of allowing dispensaries and/or on-site consumption licensing within their boundaries. The village board unanimously voted last December to opt out and place its cannabis laws on a special election ballot to give voting village residents the final say.

More than 300 village residents went to the polls on Tuesday to weigh in on the cannabis issue. There were two proposals on the ballot — the first proposal was for dispensaries, and the second was for on-site consumption licensing. Of the 326 votes on the first proposal, 144 people voted to remain opted-out of dispensaries and 182 people voted to opt in. Of the 329 votes on the second proposal, 164 voted to remain opted out of on-site consumption licensing and 165 voted to opt in.

Since the on-site consumption proposal was approved by a margin of one vote, village Clerk Anita Estling said further action might be taken to verify the results. Estling said on Tuesday night that she thought the New York Conference of Mayors might require a vote recount on the on-site consumption licensing proposal since the vote was so close. Other factors that could necessitate a recount, according to Estling, would be if someone in the village disputes the election results or if the village board decides a recount is necessary.

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Election Day

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This special election was analog, with a ballot box and paper ballots counted by hand. Election inspectors said some town residents came to the polls on Tuesday, but they were turned away — this election was for village residents and will affect areas in the village only. Town voters will weight in on the town’s cannabis laws during the general election this November.

Village governments, unlike town governments, had the ability to opt out and then pass a resolution to place their cannabis laws on a ballot. Towns that opted out had to wait for residents to file a petition to bring the cannabis laws to a vote. The town council opted out of cannabis businesses last December, and town residents filed a petition for a permissive referendum in January.

Village polls closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The village’s four election inspectors were left to count the ballots while Estling witnessed, and village Trustee Jackie Kelly awaited the results. Two officials read the ballot votes off to the other two officials, who tallied the votes. Most often, officials could be heard saying “no-no” or “yes-yes” as they read votes — the majority of voters cast their votes consistently across both proposals — though there was the occasional “yes-no” or “no-yes” ballot from voters who wanted to opt in to one choice but not the other. The results were ready by 9:15 p.m.

The cannabis issue has been hotly-contested since adult use cannabis was legalized last year. The village has held several public hearings, information sessions and discussions on the topic over the past months, most of which were well-attended by the public.

Some village residents felt so strongly about the topic that they came together to send out a mailer to village voters encouraging people to opt out of cannabis businesses. Local resident Bill McGahay said some village residents approached him about sending out the mailer, and he helped them find a vendor.

“I was asked by a group of local people to connect them with a mail vendor,” McGahay wrote in an email. “With my background, it is not uncommon for me to be approached on this type of voter contact. I have been personally vocal as to my position that the voters should decide this issue.”

McGahay said the group wanted to remind Lake Placid voters to vote on the cannabis issue. Historically, he said, voter turnout has been “significantly low.”

“The people behind the mailings feel very strongly against pot stores and pot bars in the village, and they are entitled to voice their opinion,” he wrote.

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What now?

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Now that dispensaries and on-site consumption licensing will be allowed in the village, pending any recount, officials will need to consider the village’s next steps in regulating the businesses.

The town and village formed a joint committee on cannabis zoning this past December. The group has had one agenda item: to look at amending the joint land use code to account for legal cannabis businesses in the event that town and/or village residents overturn the municipalities’ opt-out laws.

Village Trustee Jackie Kelly is on the committee along with town Councilor Emily Politi, Lake Placid/North Elba Community Development Director Haley Breen, Code Enforcement Officer Michael Orticelle and Code Enforcement Officer Darci Lafave.

While the group hasn’t solidified any zoning suggestions related to cannabis businesses yet, village Trustee Jason Leon said there have been some ideas “thrown around” about where those businesses would be zoned — primarily in commercial, business districts.

The committee has also discussed extending state regulations on how close a cannabis business can operate to schools and similar facilities. The proposed zoning changes would be an extension of cannabis business zoning set by the state in the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which states that cannabis businesses can’t operate within 500 feet of a school or within 200 feet of a place of worship.

The proposed changes would additionally prohibit a cannabis business — which includes dispensaries, on-site consumption lounges and smoke shops — from operating within 200 feet of a daycare, childcare facility, youth center, community center, recreational facility, playground and other places where children gather.

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State regulations

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Right now, it’s unclear when cannabis businesses will open their doors across the state.

Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said the office expects to start releasing adult use businesses regulations late this winter or early spring. Then, she said, there will be a 60-day public comment period on the proposed regulations, after which the Office of Cannabis Management would amend the regulations as necessary. Wright said the CCB could start accepting business applications at that point.

There will be a 9% state excise tax and a 4% local excise tax on all adult use retail cannabis sales, according to Wright. Products with higher THC content will be taxed at a higher rate. Of the 4% local tax, 25% of that revenue would go to Essex County and 75% would go to the municipality where the sale happened, according to the OCM. If the town and a village both allow adult-use sales, the revenue could be distributed based on a distribution agreement between the town and village. If not, then the revenue distribution between the town and village would be divided evenly.

Wright said that state tax on retail sales will be used to cover the cost of OCM operations, law enforcement training and programs to support equity applicants. After those up front costs, she said, portions of the sales tax will go toward schools, communities harmed by disproportionate policing when cannabis was illegal, and a drug treatment and public education fund.

The OCM already has some cannabis regulations related to driving, public smoking and youth consumption. It’s illegal to drive while impaired on cannabis, and it’s illegal for passengers to use cannabis while the car is moving, too. The state plans to increase its stock of “drug recognition experts,” or law enforcement that’s trained to tell if someone is driving while high. The state also wants to look at devices to detect cannabis impairment, like the breathalyzer that’s used to gauge alcohol levels.

It’s illegal for anyone under 21 to purchase cannabis, and it’s illegal for an individual or dispensary to sell cannabis to an underage person.

People can’t smoke cannabis where smoking tobacco is illegal. The village board last November outlawed public tobacco smoking in public areas like parks, streets and municipal buildings.