Corning City Council amends city cannabis law. What it means for planned dispensaries

After an emotional, extended debate the Corning City Council voted 5-4 Monday night to amend a chapter of the city code, entitled cannabis, matching Office of Cannabis Management's adult-use final regulations.

The amendment allows the city Planning Commission to determine plans to open Union Chill Cannabis Company at 34 W. Pulteney St., in the former Corning Leader building, and Green Rush, at 90 E. Market St., which formerly housed Wine & Design.

Prior to the vote, Corning City Mayor Bill Boland said the resolution presents one question and one question only: Will the council bring its local law regulating cannabis use and sales into compliance with the state law?

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The state cannabis law states a cannabis facility may not be within 500 feet, on the same road, of the nearest entrance building or playground equipment occupied exclusively as a public youth facility. The amendment adds the "on the same road or street" qualification, which was not included in the prior city regulations.

Deputy Mayor Alison Hunt, who was one of four councilmembers who voted against the amendment, said the fact that she is going to have to send a son to Gregg Elementary School and he might have to be around the corner from a dispensary is "so frustrating and upsetting to me."

“You should vote the way your constituents want you to vote,” Hunt said. “Take a look around our community and ask yourself, especially with a building like The Leader, should it be right next to a community facility? Should it be? Ask yourself about that. It’s not about the money. Ask yourself if it is the right thing to do.”

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City Councilperson Kate Paterson, D-2, who voted in favor of the regulation amendment, said she has been in communities in Colorado and Maine and dispensaries have been there, and they have not caused disruptions and they have not ended a good way of life.

“Everything had been OK and that is what I am going on and the experience I'm bringing to my decision,” Paterson said.

Several people both for and against the cannabis amendments to the regulations spoke to the City Council prior to the vote.

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Councilpersons Diane Telehany, D-1, Paterson, D-2, Jeffrey Clark, D-3, Marshall Hyde, D-4, and Boland, each from the city’s Southside, voted to approve the amendment.

Frank Muccini, R-5, Betty Coccho, D-6, Mark ReSue, I-7, and Hunt, R-8, each representing the city’s Northside, voted against the charter change.

For additional information on the Office of Cannabis Management adult-use regulations, go to cannabis.ny.gov/marihuana-regulation-and-taxation-act-mrta.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Contentious council vote revives Corning cannabis shop plans