SARANAC LAKE — A public hearing on the village’s draft development code for cannabis businesses will be held on Monday.

After the state’s Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act legalized adult-use recreational cannabis in New York in March 2021, the village opted in to allowing cannabis businesses within its limits. This includes dispensaries, consumption lounges, cultivation facilities and distribution and processing plants.

Village Community Development Director Jamie Konkoski said the state law allows local governments to govern, regulate and control cannabis businesses the same as they do for businesses producing or selling alcohol.

She said there are two sets of laws — the state licenses businesses to produce and sell cannabis through its Office of Cannabis Management, the same as it does for alcohol; and the local government can regulate the time, place and manner in which these businesses operate, also like alcohol.

Konkoski said the law and the public hearing are not about whether cannabis businesses can open here or not. That’s settled. It’s about the locations, times and manner in which they operate.

One of the stated goals of the law is to “foster a healthy, diverse, and economically viable cannabis industry that contributes to the local economy, and ensure that environmental, public health, safety, and nuisance factors related to the cannabis industry are adequately addressed.”

The law is a proposed amendment to the village’s Unified Development Code.

“The proposed amendments to the Development Code identify which zoning districts will allow cannabis uses, including dispensaries, on-site consumption, cultivation and processing,” according to an email announcing the hearing from the village.

The draft law can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3vDRThL. In the law is a chart of each zoning district and the types of businesses, showing where they need special use permits or site plan review to operate.

Konkoski said the state recommended the village model its cannabis facility code similar to existing businesses. So where greenhouses are allowed in the village, cultivation would be; where liquor stores are allowed, dispensaries would be; where liquor consumption is allowed — like at a licensed bar — cannabis consumption would be; where light industry is allowed, processing would be.

There are certain preexisting rules on the locations and hours of cannabis businesses. For example, they could not operate on the same road and within 500 feet of school grounds or 200 feet of a place of worship.

Under the draft law, retail dispensaries could operate between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 a.m. from Monday through Saturday and between the hours of 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Sunday. Consumption lounges could operate between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 a.m. from Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Sundays.

Businesses are required to prevent smoke and odors from exiting the facilities, signage is governed by the MRTA, and things like drive-thru windows or mobile shops are prohibited.

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One business seeking to open

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Konkoski said there is currently one potential cannabis business seeking a “microbusiness” license in the village. A “microbusiness” is a combination of several business licenses, where each use has limited dedicated floor space in the total facility.

“You could grow, process and then have a dispensary all under one roof,” Konkoski said. “But you’re limited by size.”

Konkoski said the state was trying to avoid one company from taking a monopoly on the means of production and distribution of cannabis, to support smaller businesses and make sure the most people can benefit from the industry. So it created nine different types of licenses, microbusiness being the broadest.

This potential business has not formally submitted any documentation, Konkoski said, so she didn’t feel comfortable sharing its name or owner. She said they have just had conversations at this point. She also said licenses are issued only if a location is secured. She was not sure if this potential business has secured a building yet.

This business would then need to get licensed by the state. The state’s first round of 36 licenses were passed around late in 2022. These were only for people affected by cannabis-related convictions. More rounds of licensing are expected to continue in the future.

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How the law was drafted

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Konkoski said the village hired consultants to draft the law. She said a lot of the language in this draft law came from the MRTA. A committee of herself, two development board members and village Manager Erik Stender worked with the consultants to create a draft law which was reviewed by the village development board. Changes were made, and the board gave its approval. The draft went to the village attorney where more changes were made. Now, the law has been submitted to the village board for consideration.

The public hearing on Monday is the community’s chance to review and comment on the law.

Village Clerk Amanda Hopf said after the discussion of the code at this meeting, the board will take what the public says into consideration and potentially amend the law.

Konkoski said if the board does want to make changes after public comment, it will need to hold another public hearing on the final law if the changes are substantial.

Then, the law would be voted on by the board.

The village email says comments regarding licensing requirements should be directed to the state and its laws posted on the website for the Office of Cannabis Management.

The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor village board room at 39 Main St.