Dozens of sites could become eligible for recreational cannabis shops in Riverhead if the town board adopts a new zoning recommendation from the municipality’s marijuana advisory committee.
The committee has pitched allowing the pot dispensaries to be located within 1,000 feet of homes along the town’s major commercial arteries, according to Councilman Ken Rothwell, the committee’s leader.
Currently, town zoning requires the shops to be 1,000 feet away from residences. They also have to be 1,000 feet from schools and libraries, 500 feet from town facilities, playgrounds and churches and 2,500 feet from each other.
The new recommendation doesn’t put any limit on how close shops in the commercial areas could be to the homes if the shops meet other zoning restrictions.
While the current zoning leaves five sites available for dispensaries, both Rothwell and Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti have estimated the proposed revision could provide 144 potential locations.
The marijuana advisory committee recently went back to the drawing board to look at zoning after pushback about a lack of available shop sites from the town’s business advisory committee and marijuana entrepreneurs eyeing property in Riverhead.
The state adopted regulations that went into effect in October under which potential recreational marijuana store owners can file an appeal if they feel a municipality has “unreasonably impracticable” zoning or other requirements.
Under the regulations, applicants who feel