Vote to decide fate of retail marijuana sales, consumption in village of Dansville | Local News

Residents will vote on two propositions: “Should the Village of Dansville continue to opt out of (prohibit) licensing and establishing retail cannabis dispensaries within the Village of Dansville?” and “Should the Village of Dansville continue to opt out of (prohibit) the licensing and establishing on-site cannabis consumption establishments within the Village of Dansville?”

Voters must be registered voters in the village of Dansville to be eligible to cast a ballot.

“If people say yes to either of the two propositions then the opt out remains in effect. If they say no, then we will go ahead and allow whoever wants to apply for purchasing dispensary marijuana licensing and on-site consumption licenses,” said Mayor Pete Vogt when explaining the referendum vote and its purpose.

The village board chose Dec. 21 to opt out of the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, or MRTA, which became law in March 2021. Municipalities across the state had until Dec. 31 to make a decision; if they made no decision, the municipality would automatically be opted-in to the state law, which would allow retail locations and on-site consumption.

Municipalities that opted out are able to opt in at a later date and there are also options for a public referendum to put the issue to a community-wide vote.

Dansville’s decision to opt out opened a 45-day window in which residents could gather signatures and kick off a referendum that could overturn the municipality’s decision.

“It was getting sort of late and so we opted out with a provision that we would voluntarily set up a referendum for the community to choose, and that’s what we’ve done.” said Vogt.

Vogt discussed the importance of the community and their votes, saying that the Village Board did not want to make this decision for the people.

“It’s up to the community, if that’s what they want. I just don’t want it to be a situation where things are being pushed down people’s throats.” said Vogt. “We wanted to give them the choice, let them make the decision and we’ll go from there, and likewise, if people don’t want it, then that’s the same thing, we’ll go from there and see what happens.”

Municipalities may only opt out of on-site user locations and dispensaries. They cannot opt out of allowing individuals to use marijuana as the possession and use of cannabis will remain legal across the state.

In Livingston County, municipalities that have opted in to both allowing dispensaries and allowing consumption on site are: Town and Village of Avon, Town and Village of Caledonia, Town of Groveland, Town and Village of Leicester, Town and Village of Lima, Town and Village of Livonia, Town and Village of Mount Morris, Town of Nunda, Town of Portage, Town of Sparta, Town of West Sparta and Town of York.

Municipalities that have opted out and will not allow dispensaries and consumption sites are Town of Conesus, Village of Dansville, Town and Village of Geneseo, Town of North Dansville, Village of Nunda, and Town of Ossian.

The Village of Nunda Board opted out on July 12, and then a referendum on Sept. 7 affirmed the opt-out decision.

The Town of Springwater did not make a formal decision, which would automatically opt the town into the law, though the town’s status had not been confirmed by the Marijuana Tracker as of Feb. 9.

A municipality can opt in after initially opting out but cannot opt out after opting in to the law. However, opting in does not guarantee the municipality a dispensary or retail site either. It just makes it possible for the town or village to have them in the future and to receive a portion of tax revenue from marijuana sales.

The state has indicated that marijuana sales will be taxed at about 13% with roughly 9% going to the state and 4% being allocated at the local level. Of that 4%, municipalities will receive 75% based on their adult-use marijuana sales, and counties will receive the remaining 25%.