Officials in the Town of Pendleton are opting out of cannabis dispensaries, and cannabis consumption locations.
The town board voted on the measure during its meeting on Wednesday.
Councilman Justin Graham was the lone councilman to vote against opting-out. He said it was his belief that passing on the potential revenue for Pendleton wouldn’t be a smart idea. Graham said he felt that even if Pendleton decides to opt back in later, the businesses would already be established in surrounding towns that decided not to opt-out, like Lockport, Amherst, or Wheatfield.
“The potential revenue for the town was substantial.” he said. “There are not many new streams of revenue that come about. This is one of those streams of revenue that the town could have utilized for a number of different things.”
Pendleton Supervisor Joel Maertens couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.
Other municipalities in New York state have recently passed similar cannabis opt-out laws after New York state legalized recreational marijuana earlier this year. Opt-out laws have been passed in Wilson, Hartland, Cambria, Somerset, and Royalton. Last week, the town board of Newfane, voted down their own proposed opt-out law after members of the community voiced their displeasure with it, on the grounds of the law seeming bad for business, and costing the town potential tax revenue.
If a municipality does decide to opt-out they can always decide to opt back in at a later point. However if a municipality doesn’t decide to opt-out, then they will be unable to do so later. The deadline for municipalities to pass cannabis opt-out laws is Dec. 31.
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