Bronx Community Board 7 voted this week not to recommend a new cannabis dispensary on Jerome Avenue, the location joining a string of at least 24 others across the borough that have been trashed by community boards since the state opened its general cannabis application period last October.
The dispensary in question, NutraLeaf LLC, applied to set up shop at an old gastroenterology and endoscopy clinic at 3584 Jerome Ave. in Norwood near the Woodlawn stop off the 4 train.
Executive board members presented the Jerome Avenue location to CB7 during the body’s full meeting on Jan. 23, but it was to much of the board members’ dismay — mostly because the location is in the same building as Arms Acres, an outpatient substance abuse treatment center with the same 3584 Jerome Ave. address. Arms Acres has a separate entrance, however, on 213th Street.
Patrice Wallace-Moore, the CEO of Arms Acres, spoke in opposition to the proposed location, stating that she’s “greatly concerned” about a cannabis dispensary sharing a wall with a treatment center — both on behalf of the adults the center services, but also the children who participate in programming.
“People who come to our program have often fought hard and long to recover from the disease of addiction — most are still fighting, as the battle is one they fight every day,” Wallace-Moore said. “We ask that you do the right thing. We ask that you consider the hard work of our patients and staff and the great risk of the proximity of this dispensary to our program.”
In a prior CB7 Health and Human Services Committee meeting and public hearing on Jan. 16, community members raised some of the same concerns about the proposed location — as well as fears about the prevalence of fentanyl-laced substances and the applicant’s business experience and ability to adhere to local zoning requirements, according to the motion notes. Board members also noted that the location along Jerome Avenue is 272 feet away from the Iglesia Pentecostal (church) on 213th Street — just 72 feet further than the minimum statewide required distance between dispensaries and places of worship.
But even with the concerns, the CB7 Health and Human Services Committee “ultimately viewed the location as one that meets the Office of Cannabis [Management] distance requirements, and is an area less trafficked than other parts of the community board,” the motion notes state. CB7 also emphasized the importance of opening legal dispensaries to “deter” people from buying weed at “illicit” smoke shops, which the board states “are abundant in the district.” In fact, there is a smoke shop about a half of a block down from 3584 Jerome Ave., although the Bronx Times didn’t confirm whether or not the business was selling illegal cannabis.
CB7 Board Chair Yajaira Arias assured her colleagues that the decision of whether or not to recommend the Jerome Avenue location didn’t come without a “difficult discussion” between members of the executive committee during its Jan. 18 meeting. At that same meeting, the executive committee also voted not to recommend a different dispensary on East Kingsbridge Road because of its proximity to neighboring P.S. 246.
The motion to consider sending a letter of support to the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) for a dispensary at 3584 Jerome Ave. ended up failing handsomely at the full board meeting on Jan. 23 — with 20 “no” votes, three “yes” votes and one abstention.
A plethora of axed dispensary locations
The Bronx Times has identified 25 proposed recreational dispensary locations given the thumbs down by either community board committees or full boards, including CB7’s vote against the location on Jerome Avenue this week, since October. On Oct. 4, 2023, OCM opened its non-conditional general application for all types of legal adult-use cannabis licenses, including retail dispensary licenses.
The 25 given the red light are compared to nine dispensary location recommendations issued by Bronx community boards since October.
While community boards do not have actual legislative voting power, they do serve as key advisory bodies that are permitted to issue opinions to local and state lawmakers and agencies for new projects — which includes cannabis dispensary locations. However, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the state will adhere to every opinion or recommendation issued by a community board.
There is no limit to the number of dispensaries allowed in a certain community district, borough or other city district, according to OCM.
Matt Cruz, the district manager of CB10, told the Bronx Times that a board disapproval of a dispensary location doesn’t necessarily have to do with the applications or owners themselves.
“I don’t think any community board intended to have every neighborhood [in their district] have a dispensary,” he said.
Cruz also emphasized that CB10 wants more enforcement against illegal cannabis sellers, who mostly operate out of bodegas and smoke shops. That’s an issue he says “undermin[es]” applicants who are applying for legal storefronts — and “diminish[es]” the incentive for community boards to recommend more locations to the state.
The majority of nixed locations since October have come from CB5, which voted against one location earlier this week and eight others on the agenda at the body’s general board meeting on Nov. 8, 2023. Those not recommended in November included three different proposed locations on the Grand Concourse, three on East Fordham Road, one on East Burnside Avenue and another on Jerome Avenue.
Angel Caballero, the chair of CB5, told the Bronx Times that the rationale for the board’s nine location disapprovals since October are either because applicants don’t already have leases or business plans, or simply because board members haven’t wanted dispensaries in those particular areas.
CB6 has also axed five proposals for new dispensary locations in the district since October 2023 — the majority at an Economic Development Committee meeting on Oct. 25, 2023 without any reason outlined in meeting notes. Another location listed on the meeting notes, 2375 Arthur Ave., the board decided not to issue an opinion on during a Public Safety Committee meeting on Nov. 22, 2023, and “instead explain the proximity concerns with the other applicants to the New York Office of Cannabis Management.”
CB2, on the other hand, is the board that has recommended the most new dispensary locations since October 2023. According to CB2 Community Coordinator Cynthia Baez, the board has given a “yes” opinion on five addresses: three on Bruckner Boulevard and two on Hunts Point Avenue.
The other dispensary location recommendations since October have included two from CB5, one from CB10 in November at 68 Westchester Square, and one from CB8 in December at 3547 Johnson Ave.
Another CB11 motion to issue a statement of no objection for a dispensary at 711 Lydig Ave. was withdrawn at the board’s full meeting on Nov. 30, 2023. Similarly, Baez said CB2 has also withdrawn motions to approve or disapprove of six other locations since October.
A borough that has been disproportionately impacted by cannabis regulation, the Bronx has lagged behind other boroughs since OCM announced its first round of conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses in November 2022. The CAURD initiative, which was the first path to legal dispensary licensure, is a statewide restorative justice program that is meant to provide entrepreneurial opportunities in the cannabis industry to individuals who have been impacted by the over-policing of marijuana.
The lag can be attributed to a multitude of factors.
Some include roadblocks to obtaining a physical storefront — such as examining vacant commercial spaces to operate, ensuring businesses align with an area’s zoning requirements, and maintaining state-mandated distances between other dispensaries and schools, childcare facilities and places of worship. In addition, because some legal dispensary licensees don’t come from a business background, some have had issues and delays navigating their new business ventures.
Another major hindrance has been a statewide injunction filed in Albany Supreme Court on Aug. 2, 2023 by a group of service-disabled veterans against the state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) and OCM — the plaintiffs arguing that the licensing rollout violated the state Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). That lawsuit delayed the Bronx’s second dispensary opening, Hush in Allerton, by four months. The Bronx’s first legal dispensary, Statis Cannabis Co., opened in Crotona on July 6, 2023.
Aaron Ghitelman, the OCM deputy director of communications, said the state is excited about the number of general applications for new dispensaries in New York City.
“The office appreciates the hard work community board members across New York City, and municipalities across New York State, are doing to support cannabis entrepreneurs and we will continue to work with and help them as they navigate their important role in this new and burgeoning industry,” Ghitelman told the Bronx Times in a statement.
As of Jan. 22, the Bronx had a total of 26 provisional licenses under the CAURD program and just two fully operational legal dispensaries: Hush at 2460 Williamsbridge Road and Statis at 817 E. Tremont Ave. Sesh NYC, a licensed same-day cannabis delivery business, also serves clients in upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County.
That’s compared to 11 dispensaries in Manhattan, four in Queens, two on Staten Island and one in Brooklyn.
Ashlynn Perez and Jill Tuthill contributed to this report.
This story was updated at 12:43 p.m. on Jan. 26 with data provided by Bronx Community Board 5. It was also corrected to state that Bronx Community Board 6 has disapproved of five locations and issued no opinion on a sixth location.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
