Pine Plains Planning Board holds first cannabis public hearing

PINE PLAINS — Planning Board members and residents gathered for the first round of public hearings concerning a proposed cannabis dispensary.

Upstate Pines, a Red Hook-based cannabis retailer owned by Brian Seiler and Ben Abrahams, is seeking to open a second store in the renovated weigh station building on South Main Street in Pine Plains.

Architect Kristina Dousharm of KDA detailed specific plans for the weigh station building — including six gravel parking spaces and a wheelchair-accessible entrance on the south side of the building — and some suggestions for future uses for other buildings on the site including a grocery store.

Public comment on the business was mixed, but generally criticism centered around the location rather than the nature of the business itself.

Sarah Jones of Pine Plains spoke in opposition, saying that as a member of the town board she voted to approve the town’s cannabis law and cited the ordinances distance requirements. That law requires cannabis retailers be at least 300 feet from an “essential service.”

“It’s really disheartening to me that those restrictions would not be complied with on the first dispensary application to this board,” Jones said. “We thought they were necessary, we thought they were reasonable.”

Jones and other critics also focused on the historic significance of the site, cautioning that the building ought to be preserved.

Supporters of the project touted the fiscal benefits the dispensary would provide to the town, including Town Board member Kevin Walsh.

Walsh also praised the efforts of Upstate Pines in restoring the building. “A great amount of effort has gone into preserving that building,” Walsh said. “It’s in now currently a far better state than it was prior.”

Owner Brian Seiler spoke up in support of his proposed store, also promoting the tax revenue benefits to the town.

“What comes with a cannabis store is positivity,” Seiler said.

The Pine Plains Fire District and the Hose Company submitted identical letters to the board objecting to the proposed site. The letters cited community events where children play on the fire house property as their chief reason for opposing the project.

“There is a law in place for a reason about the distance away from such buildings and it is our stance that the law was made for this very reason,” the letter states. “At no time are we objecting to such business, we are objecting to the location that is being presented.”

Planning board members decided to hold open the public hearing for the dispensary until the following meeting on Oct. 8. Members expect to be able to issue a decision on the distance waivers at the next meeting, pending clarification from the fire department on potential compromises with the developers.