Maybe the first place in New York you’d expect to find a legal cannabis store would be Woodstock — the artsy upstate town synonymous with Bob Dylan, The Band and the legendary ‘69 music fest.
But it hasn’t exactly worked out that way.
Currently, there are no dispensaries in the town, and the one applicant with a recently approved license is unable to open because of a battle brewing between the town and the state Office of Cannabis Management over distance requirements to a house of worship.
Woodstock Supervisor Bill McKenna makes no bones about where he stands on the matter.
“It’s horrible. It’s terrible,” the way OCM has “violated” its own distance regulations by approving a cannabis store site application within 200 feet of a church, McKenna said.
At its June 11 meeting, OCM approved Melissa Gibson’s adult-use retail dispensary license for 17 Tinker St., near the heart of town. Operating under the name “Plant Meets Public, LLC,” the dispensary would be just 150 feet from the historic Woodstock Reformed Church and just a stone’s throw from the Village Green.
“I’ve been in touch with them since January on this,” the supervisor said, “and they have totally ignored the information we gave them,” including concerns