A third cannabis dispensary may soon call Peekskill its home, after receiving the green light from Peekskill’s Planning Commission at their Nov. 14 meeting.
The new business is NYSAFE 420, which plans to renovate the existing ground floor commercial space at 1719 Main Street and develop a new cannabis dispensary. The current space is occupied by Beer World and is also a container redemption center. The property owner of the space is Saumik Patel.
According to city documents, Richard Burton is the owner of NYSAFE 420. Burton and NYSAFE 420 have been provisionally approved for a Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license by the NYS Cannabis Control Board. The company will receive their official license after they are granted their certificate of occupancy, according to individuals working with the business.
Last summer, Burton was approved for a CAURD license, through his company, 4 Jays LLC. Due to a state-wide injunction on the recreational cannabis industry last August, many license holders were unable to open their stores, including Burton.
In October 2023, at a public hearing of the NYS Senate’s Subcommittee on Cannabis, Burton was quoted in a published report stating his dissatisfaction with the legal challenges facing the CAURD program.
“They [OCM] don’t tell you anything. I have a CAURD license. I have a lease that I pay 10 thousand dollars a month. I have nothing. At some point, I’m going to be broke and I’m trying to hold on,” said Burton.
Burton was able to weather the storm and is now on the verge of bringing a cannabis dispensary to Peekskill.
Burton’s original plans for the proposed dispensary called for changes to the exterior of the property, including the removal of a door and all windows and the addition of three new doors. The existing retail redemption center will continue its operations at the south end of the building, according to the project staff report. Seventeen designated parking spaces are available for use by the dispensary and redemption center. In addition, 45 unassigned parking spaces are available at the adjacent shared parking lot.
At the Nov. 14 Planning Commission meeting, a public hearing was held on the proposed dispensary at 1719 Main Street. Architect Joseph Minuta and Louis Dicostanzo spoke on the project and addressed questions and concerns commission members had. The main concern raised by the commission was the proposal to eliminate all the windows on the property.
“I think that there should be windows – it should look like a retail type business. I don’t like the idea that it’s just going to be a big blank wall with a sign,” said chairman Jeff Stern.
“Without them [windows], it looks like a warehouse. It also makes it look like something illicit is going on inside,” added vice chairwoman Ruth Wells.
After some back and forth, Minuta and Dicostanzo agreed to keep the windows unless the Office of Cannabis Management says they can’t.
The long discussion on the new dispensary culminated in a 6-1 vote, granting NYSAFE 420 a special permit, preliminary site plan approval, and associated parking waivers, with the conditions that the business leaves the existing windows, adds trim colors to match the neighboring plaza, and moves a handicap spot closer to the entrance. Member Blanca Villa abstained.
Too much cannabis in Peekskill?
In Peekskill currently, there are two cannabis dispensaries, (Valley Greens, Cloud 914) one micro business, TKS Sensei NY LLC on John Walsh Blvd., and one manufacturer, The Art of Flower Farm recently received approval for a special permit. The two dispensaries awaiting approvals from the state are: Piffords Inc. at 500 Highland Ave and NYSAFE 420 at 1719 Main Street. It is clear that Peekskill has become a mecca for cannabis businesses but is there such a thing as too much cannabis? That was one of the concerns raised by Planning Commission member Blanca Villa at the Nov. 14 meeting.
“We have two dispensaries that we approved recently. My concern is if we keep approving more and more of these, at some point, we’re doing damage to the businesses that are just implementing themselves into the city,” she said.
In response, vice chairwoman Ruth Wells said,“We can’t limit the number. It’s like saying there are too many beauty salons already. It’s up to the state how many they license for Peekskill and as long as they are following the rules of distance between them and distance from churches and schools and now youth recreation facilities, we can’t say ‘There are two. We don’t want another one.’”
Adding to this, Director of Planning Carol Samol said, “You would have to have a rationale for your rejection. For example, they have to meet certain findings for the special permit. If you felt that they did not meet one of those findings – that’s a different conversation then you don’t want the use here.”
Shane Jackson, one of owners of Valley Greens, voiced his frustration with the planning commission’s decision to approve another dispensary when speaking to the Herald last week.
“I think Peekskill is making a huge mistake allowing all these businesses,” he said.
“Everyone is misinformed about how profitable these businesses are.” According to Jackson, in their first month of being open, Valley Greens made $200,000 in revenue, with only $3,000 of that translating to profit.
“Our expenses aren’t tax deductible. We’re paying full taxes on our gross revenue. It’s really not a profitable business at all.”
Because of this, Jackson is imploring the commission to turn away more dispensaries. “They don’t have to say yes to everyone. It’s up to the municipalities. The municipality can say ‘We have enough. No’ but they won’t. They keep saying yes to every single person.” “I don’t know what they are doing but it is definitely going to mess up everyone. I think they are spreading this pot too thin,” said Jackson.
“They’re [OCM] not going to say ‘No. Too many people applied in Peekskill’ that’s Peekskill’s job to say.”
When asked why he thinks many people are gravitating to Peekskill to open dispensaries, Jackson said, ““It sounds like because the commission will say yes to anybody and everybody.” He emphasized that Peekskill has the most dispensaries out of any neighboring town. According to a proximity map by the state, Ossining has one dispensary with another one pending, one pending in Croton, one micro business pending in Cold Spring, one cannabis dispensary is open in Cortlandt, and two cannabis micro businesses are open in Beacon.
Not limiting how many dispensaries can open in Peekskill will have major impacts on all competitors, says Jackson.“It’s going to be who can operate at the lowest cost and then everyone else is going to go out of business. Then we’re going to have a bunch of empty businesses and a bunch of people mad that they wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars because Peekskill can’t say no.”
At the Oct. 28 Common Council meeting, council members moved to authorize the issuance of a special permit for The Art of Flower Farm for an indoor cannabis cultivation and processing business at 1698 Main Street. The Art of Flower Farm has a state micro business license. The business plans to cultivate cannabis and package products on site. The products will then be sold exclusively at their license dispensary in Sleepy Hollow. The business will not be open to the public. If Art of Flower Farm wishes to add retail to their site in the future, they will need to apply for a cannabis dispensary permit from the city.
Jackson said that Gracious Greens is also still in the conversation to open a dispensary in Peekskill. The business has an open lawsuit against the state and Valley Greens, challenging the law that restricts dispensaries from opening 1,000 feet from one another. Gracious Greens was the first cannabis business to receive their special permit from the Planning Commission, in December 2023. They intended to operate at 32 N. Division Street but were unable to secure a license in time before Valley Greens opened their store on Central Avenue.
The Herald has learned that Papi’s Secret Stash, another establishment in the race for a cannabis dispensary, is no longer being considered by NYS for a cannabis license.
