Cannabis bud (Photo provided via Wikimedia Commons)
SARANAC LAKE — The Harrietstown board is scheduling a last-minute public hearing on a law to opt-out of allowing cannabis businesses.
The board announced its plans on Thursday, three weeks before the Dec. 31 opt-out deadline.
The town board will hold its public hearing and vote on the law on Dec. 30, one day before the last day possible.
This will be town residents’ one chance to speak on the law before the board takes a vote on it.
“Basically, all we’re doing is buying time,” Harrietstown Supervisor Mike Kilroy said of the decision to opt out of dispensaries and on-site consumption licenses at first.
The board, and incoming supervisor Jordanna Mallach, expect to opt back in, they said, but they don’t want to opt in once-and-for-all without seeing the state’s rules first. They see opting out as their one time to avoid any possible cannabis business rules they don’t like.
When the state legalized recreational, adult-use cannabis earlier this year, it gave local governments a one-time option of opting out of allowing dispensaries and issuing on-site consumption licenses. Local governments have to opt out by Dec. 31 if they choose to. Otherwise, the municipalities will automatically be opted in.
In November, Kilroy had said the town would follow the village’s lead to remain consistent. Now, it’s deviating from the village, which is taking no action and opting in to allowing cannabis businesses.
Kilroy said he initially wasn’t going to do anything, but after speaking with people from the state Association of Towns, fielding emails from town residents urging an opt-out and seeing other towns — like St. Armand and the village of Tupper Lake — choose to opt out and take their time before opting in, he changed his mind.
The public hearing will be held Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. over Zoom only. People who want to speak will be required to give their name as part of the public record.
Kilroy said if there’s lots of people telling board members to vote one way or another, they’ll consider that when voting, but ultimately, the decision comes down to the board.
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The vote
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The town board introduced the law on Thursday.
The vote was 4-1, with Councilman Howard Riley casting the sole “no” vote, but he later clarified that he had voted wrong.
“I voted to ‘do nothing’ … believing that action was the same as ‘opting out,’” Riley later said in an email.
If the board does nothing, the town is automatically opted in.
Riley said this path of opting out now and then opting in later is “confusing,” but his intention is to delay allowing cannabis business licenses until the state explains its process more.
He said he would like the town to be able to collect the tax revenue on cannabis sales.
A village that opts out of allowing cannabis dispensaries would not be able to collect tax revenue generated by the sale of cannabis. Sales will be taxed at 13% in New York. Of that, 9% would go to the state, 3% to the local government where the sale took place and 1% to the county where that local government is located.
“I’m glad we got to this point on marijuana use anyway,” Riley said. “A few years ago, we were spending millions of dollars flying helicopters, trying to spot people growing marijuana. Now we’ve got a way to collect money from it without us doing anything.”
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Opt-in planned, once rules are known
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The state Office of Cannabis Management has not yet released the rules and regulations for how cannabis business licenses will be rolled out. It is likely to announce these rules in the spring.
“We don’t know what the state’s going to say as far as regulation,” Kilroy said.
He cited similar concerns to opting in as board members in other towns — including the idea that the state might require police protection at dispensaries. He said state regulations may cost the town money or could be a hassle.
The town can always opt back in later, he said.
The rest of the board agreed with this.
Councilwoman Ashley Milne said it’s the “finality” of opting in that concerns her and makes her wary of choosing to do so.
“If we do nothing, we would have to accept whatever the state guidelines or restrictions are,” Mallach said. “Not knowing what the state is going to say, to me, is an awkward position to be in.”
“I don’t want to opt out permanently, I just want to get more information,” Councilwoman Tracey Schrader said.
She also wants the tax benefits from sales.
Mallach, who will become Harrietstown’s new supervisor in January, said she wants two separate laws, allowing retail licenses but banning on-site consumption licenses.
Milne said it’s the “permanence factor” that influenced her vote.
“The devil’s in the details and there’s not enough details to be able to make a decision at this time,” Milne said. “I don’t like the finality of it. It’s just like when Spectrum made me go paperless and then they automatically make my payments go up without me knowing.”
She also said she thinks it’s important to know what other towns and villages are doing.
Kilroy said he also wants to make sure the products dispensaries sell will be properly vetted for safety.
“I guess when you get right down to it, they’re going to get it no matter what — the problem is, are they going to get stuff that’s safe?” he asked.
Schrader agreed. It’s better to regulate cannabis like alcohol and cigarettes, she said, so they’re a safer product. She doesn’t partake herself, she said, but she doesn’t believe cannabis is a danger in itself.
“Alcohol and cigarettes, I’ve seen actually destroy people,” Schrader said.
Schrader said she’s fine with opting out and regulating the process more if the town opts in later.
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Permissive referendum
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To opt out, municipalities must pass a local law.
That local law, as with all local laws, is subject to a permissive referendum, meaning town residents have 45 days from the adoption of the law to gather enough signatures — 10% of the village’s voters who cast ballots for governor in the last gubernatorial election — to force a public vote. All town voters would be able to vote and whichever side gets the most votes — keeping the law or removing it — wins.
Harrietstown residents cast 1,991 ballots in the 2018 gubernatorial election, so 200 signatures would be needed to force a referendum.
If no petition is filed within 45 days, it automatically becomes law.
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