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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Alesha and Ricardo Chambers have spent the past three years working to get their business, Pure Wellness Dispensary, off the ground. After a long licensing process and sinking nearly a million dollars into the venture, they finally opened their cannabis shop on West Ridge Road in early July.
Three weeks later, they got a letter from the Office of Cannabis Management saying their business is in violation of the state’s cannabis law based on its location, through no fault of their own.
“We were shocked. We didn’t know what to do,” Alesha Chambers said. “To be honest, I felt kind of defeated. Because we had just opened, and it took us so long because we’re independently funded. We did all this on our own.”
According to the letter, their store is too close to Rise Community School down the street. The law states dispensaries must be at least 500 feet from a school.
Read More: New York allowed pot shops to open too close to schools. Now they might have to move
Brett Davidsen, News10NBC: “When you went through the process, how far did they say you were from the school?”
Alesha Chambers: “It was about 520 feet, yeah.”
Brett Davidsen: “And now they’re saying you’re closer than that.”
Alesha Chambers: “Now they’re saying we’re closer.”
Since New York began licensing, the state has measured from door to door. But OCM now admits it should have been measuring from property line to property line. The Chambers are not alone – 108 retail licensees across the state got the same letter and 44 applicants awaiting their licenses are also impacted.
“We’ve invested everything into this. So, asking us to kind of move because of a mistake would be asking us to kind of close our doors,” Alesha Chambers said.
Governor Kathy Hochul has placed the blame on the previous OCM leadership, called the mistake a “major screw up,” and vowed to push legislation to fix it. OCM declined News10NBC’s request for an interview but in a follow up letter last week, Acting Director Felicia Reid told businesses “OCM and the Governor’s Office will be looking to the Legislature to address this issue as early as possible during the upcoming legislative session.”
State Senator Jeremy Cooney, chair of the Senate Cannabis Subcommittee, said in a statement: “I am committed to finding a legislative solution to resolve the ongoing conflict that has impacted 152 retail cannabis dispensaries across New York State. As Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis, I have been in active conversations with the Governor’s Office and OCM. I believe the first step should be to convene a meeting with the senate subcommittee and OCM to outline a comprehensive solution that can be the basis for new legislation. I have called for a meeting this month. In the interim, I’m pleased by OCM’s decision that no impacted store needs to close or relocate while the solution is worked out.”
There are now two legislative bills that would address the problem. One would grandfather the existing businesses so they can remain at their current locations. A second measure would reduce the distance from 500 to 200 feet from a school, the same as liquor stores.
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