A decision on the application for a use variance to allow a retail cannabis shop to open in a former bank building on Ostrander Avenue was postponed last week by the Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals until at least Feb. 13.
The adjournment came pending receipt of the recommendation of the Suffolk County Planning Commission on the proposed use. The next planning commission meeting is regularly scheduled for the first Wednesday of every month, though no information about the February meeting was posted on the commission’s website as of this morning.
Applicant Elizabeth McGrath, operating as Tink & E. Co. of Cutchogue, proposes a state-licensed dispensary in the former bank building at 1201 Ostrander Avenue, which has been vacant since the branch was shuttered by People’s United Bank in June 2017.
McGrath appealed to the ZBA for relief from Riverhead Town’s cannabis code, which prohibits a retail cannabis dispensary at the site, because it is within 1,000 feet of existing residential uses and is outside a designated commercial corridor. The town’s cannabis code prohibits retail dispensaries within 1,000 feet of an existing residential use, unless the dispensary site is located within one of five designated commercial corridors identified in the code and has frontage along the commercial corridor.
Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti, who serves as counsel to the ZBA, said the applicant’s attorney submitted some additional information to the board since the Jan. 9 hearing. Although the hearing was closed, the board reopened it Thursday, at Prudenti’s suggestion, for limited comments from the applicant’s attorney and anyone from the public who wanted to be heard.
McGrath’s attorney, Andrew Schriever, of Purchase, New York, renewed his pitch for the special exception use sought by the variance by comparing the site to other sites located with frontage along nearby Route 58, a designated commercial corridor, where the use is allowed as of right. Any impacts on residential uses would be the same, Schriever told the board.
“The reason that this special use exception exists in your code is where you have something that may not fit within the zoning rule, but would otherwise be in harmony with … the surrounding circumstances,” Schriever said during brief comments.
Amanda Grams of Reeves Park was the only member of the public to speak on the application during Thursday evening’s meeting.
Grams said the town invested a lot of time and energy in developing the cannabis code. She noted that Riverhead’s code has allowed the largest retail dispensary in the state to open on Route 58, near Tanger Outlets. She said it gets “a lot of use,” and sees at least 15 cars parked in
“I drive by it every day, no less than 15 cars there. It’s a lot of use, a lot of use,” Grams said.
“I’m standing here because I don’t want Riverhead to be the pothead place. That old bank is near homes, residences, children. It’s not zoned for it,” she said. “And if I’m not mistaken, I think the person who’s leasing that property is from Mattituck, and that town shut it down, didn’t they? Nobody has any cannabis stores out on the north or south fork, except for the reservations,” Grams said.
“So please, do Riverhead right. Stay with the variances and policies which are in place in order to have a very contained area. We don’t need to have shock and awe, and we don’t need to also appease somebody because they went out ahead and thought they could lease a property with such accommodations being made to them.,” Grams said.
The board closed the hearing and voted to reserve a decision on the application until Feb.13, pending a response from the Suffolk County Planning Commission.
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A decision on whether to allow a retail cannabis shop to open in a former bank building on Ostrander Avenue was postponed until at least Feb. 13. Read More
