Neighbors surrounding 161 Hudson — from upstairs and from neighboring buildings — are organizing against a cannabis dispensary proposed for one of the storefronts there, just south of Laight (the former pediatric office). They have started a petition, and though the application was rejected by Community Board 1’s Executive Committee last Tuesday, neighbors plan to be at the full board meeting tonight as well.
There’s a lot to discuss here, and I will have two more posts (at least) on that meeting, but this one is a good case study for future dispensary applications so it was worth the deeper dive. The neighbors don’t want any part of this and they have dozens of reasons, but they are using the rule of proximity to a school as their primary argument, and that is worth clarifying.
The state cannabis law is very easy to read in the original here. “No cannabis retail licensee shall locate a storefront within 500 feet of a school grounds as such term is defined in the education law or within 200 feet of a house of worship.”
And then this from the New York State Department of Education on what constitutes a school: “’School’ means