JOHNSTOWN — Fulton County’s commercial hub could soon be zoned for cannabis.
Johnstown lawmakers in March are poised to vote on guidelines intended to contain future pot shops along a stretch of state Highway 30A. So far, no dispensaries have been established within city limits.
“You’re not adding traffic to any neighborhoods,” said City Engineer Christopher Vose. “Realistically, your infrastructure to handle traffic is already down there and it just seemed to be a good spot for us to be.”
Sitting in one of the city’s highest-trafficked hubs, the commercial zone averages about 10,132 car trips per day, according to state data from 2019. It’s been something of an economic center in the Land Of The 44 Lakes since the 1950s.
“We don’t know how heavy the interest is going to be,” Vose said. “But because it’s becoming an allowable business in New York State, we have to adopt it that way.”
The corner of East State Street and South Comrie Avenue Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
What sets the zone apart from other districts, Vose said, is the area’s dearth of housing. The