Cannabis Dispensary Info

Hello community members,

We all know there has been great concern for two proposed cannabis (marijuana) dispensaries on Forest Ave.  Here is what we know, and how we urge you TO GET INVOLVED to have your voices heard.

1. The owner of the strip mall (card and bagel store near the Santander Bank) already has a cannabis license granted by the state.  That land and license are owned by the Ha family under an LLC from Queens.  They have asked the card store and the bagel store to move by March 31.  While we mourn losing those stores from our neighborhood, that decision was between the landlord and the business.  The Civic Association has no input into those decisions.  What is a concern to many neighbors, however, is their plan to renovate and operate a state licensed cannabis dispensary there.  You know from previous e-mails that our community issues are zoning and proximity to a church (Bard and Forest) as well as schools and oversaturation on the avenue.  Here is a good example.  In a ten-block corridor between Bement Ave and Hart Blvd there are:

3 liquor stores

5 beer stores

11 bars which includes restaurants that have bars

3 "smoke" shops 

If that's not saturation, I don't know what is!!!

The Area Committee of the Community Board 1 has voted "nonsupport" for their license; however, the community board opinion is just "advisory" and really cannot stop anything on its own.  However, the CB1 opinion does represent the opinion of our neighborhood.  The Ha family got their license under the "justice " provision of the State Law.  This phrase means that they got to the front of the licensing applications because a license applicant in their group has a history of a legal proceeding against them in the past for marijuana use or sale.  That's the law.  We spoke to Theresa (Ha) who represents the family to express the community concern.  Her response was it is better to have a state regulated shop there versus an illegal smoke shop selling under the table goods to anyone without any regulations or inspection.  I replied to her that the site is not suited for such a business as it is zoned for low density walk up commercial business (C1-2) serving the immediate community (see NYC zoning regulations).   

2.    You can read up on State laws and guidelines that regulate Cannabis Dispensaries at this link :    https://cannabis.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/02/guidance-for-adult-use-retail-dispensaries-2.1.pdf

3.    YOU MUST REMEMBER that these dispensary operations, like liquor stores, are regulated by the STATE LAWS, not NYC laws.  NYC comes into play only if there are zoning issues.

4. We urge EVERYONE to please go online and file a comment on the OCM website opposing the licensing of the 465 location smack in a residential community without regard for: traffic, parking, residents nearby, proximity to community facility (Sensory Studio), emergency evacuation of the site, noise to neighbors, and most importantly contrary to local zoning regulations as well as the stated opposition of every elected official as well as the community board.

  Here is the link to OCM - copy and paste it in your browser and comment on this form (despite the fact it says February meeting) AND send an e-mail with your comments to info@ocm.ny.gov as well.

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=6rhs9AB5EE2M64Dowcge58KE6kLl_VBMgYemFBnpQ6VUNFZKUFI0TkJYUTI2MTI1MTJDM00zM1FSRC4u&origin=lprLink

5. Please see letters from our local officials who oppose the Forest Avenue location.