OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon
James Warner has been appointed trustee for the village of Mayville.
MAYVILLE — Like many communities in Chautauqua County, the village of Mayville will not permit the sale of marijuana inside its municipal boundaries.
During a meeting last week of the Mayville Village Board, officials voted unanimously to opt out of hosting on-site cannabis consumption establishments within its boundaries.
Before the vote, the village held a public hearing on the matter. One resident spoke and asked the village to consider allowing the sale of marijuana. “Do you have tax revenue that’s going to make up for that?” the resident asked.
Mayor Ken Shearer replied, “I wish we did.”
With that response, the resident said the village should consider allowing dispensaries. “You’ve got tons of tourists coming through here. It would make us a lot of bank,” he said.
Shearer said he is opposed at this point because he feels there isn’t enough guidance from the state. “If you don’t opt out, you’re in forever. You can’t opt out, but you can opt back in once they establish the rules,” he said.
Shearer said he’s tried to find out what rules are in place, but he hasn’t had any luck. “I’ve been to a couple of webinar meetings about this, but it’s been kind of pointless because there’s no answer.
We kind of have to speculate what the rules would be,” he said.
Mayville joins a long line of local municipalities who have opted out for now. Earlier this fall, the town of Chautauqua, which the village sits in, opted out as well.
Shearer said they aren’t opposed to reconsidering in the future. “We can opt back into this once they get some clearer rules on what this involves for the village,” he said.
The village attorney has noted in the past that by opting out, it doesn’t stop residents from consuming marijuana, since it is legal statewide. It only prevents local businesses from selling it.
In other business, James Warner was appointed trustee. He takes the spot of H. Tim Jacobson, who resigned last month. Warner was a member of the village Planning Board. In order to accept the trustee appointment, Warner resigned from that seat. Shearer said the village is now looking for a new member for the planning board.
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