The move follows the September opening of People’s Joint cannabis dispensary in a prime downtown location at 501 State St. The council is now considering limiting future cannabis store locations in the city.

According to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), there are eight active cannabis licenses in the city in various stages of development, with the People’s Joint and the city’s first cannabis dispensary, Upstate Canna Co., which opened on upper Union Street in March. 2023, first operational retail locations in Schenectady.

There are eight additional dispensary licenses pending in the city. If the board were to adopt zoning restrictions for future dispensaries, current dispensaries and applied-for projects would be grandfathered in and not subject to potential changes.

At Monday night’s city planning and development committee meeting, assistant corporation counsel Sean O’Brien told the council that with the number of cannabis stores pending in the city , now could be a good time to impose a 90-day moratorium while council studies possible zoning changes.

“The pace has changed,” O’Brien said of the number of applications. “I think this is the time where it’s OK to pause and see whether or not you want to zone them, just like smoke and vape stores.”

The council approved a motion Monday to convene a public hearing at its Oct. 14 meeting, with a possible vote on the moratorium in November.

City Council President Marion Porterfield said Wednesday the city could consider overlay zoning similar to restrictions on tobacco and vape stores, noting that the council has received feedback from neighborhood groups about the possible proliferation of dispensaries in the city.

“People from various neighborhoods have come forward and expressed some concern about them being in their neighborhood,” Porterfield said. “So it’s not just important places in the city center that, for me, play a role in this. But what also matters is the location and number of potential stores that could be in the neighborhoods.

In June, the council approved zoning that restricts tobacco and vape stores to the C-4 Downtown Mixed-Use District, C-5 Business District, M-Light Manufacturing and Warehousing District 1 and the M-2 manufacturing and warehousing district.

Smoking rooms are prohibited in residential areas and cannot be located within 1,000 feet of another smoking room.

Team of Schenectady business owners to open downtown dispensary

State regulations prohibit cannabis dispensaries from being located within 500 feet of a school or on the same street as a school, within 200 feet of a place of worship, or 1,000 feet from another dispensary.

Municipalities are allowed to pass local laws that define the permitted location of cannabis dispensaries in a given city, provided the restrictions do not conflict with state law.

“I want to make sure that we’re complying with state requirements, but also managing our ability to locate these establishments in our code,” O’Brien said Monday.

Porterfield asked O’Brien at Monday’s meeting to further study state law to ensure any zoning changes adopted by the board would not violate state regulations.

“This is a priority because we cannot make decisions that override state regulations,” Porterfield said Wednesday.

Downtown Schenectady CVS Center Closing

The city of Amsterdam passed its own 90-day moratorium on new cannabis stores last month while it works on its zoning regulations.

Facing a state deadline of December 2021, the Schenectady City Council decided not to opt out of recreational cannabis sales, with Porterfield opposing the decision at the time.

“I wanted to step aside just so we wouldn’t be here,” Porterfield said Monday. “I didn’t know we would be here exactly, but we are here now and now we have to try to find a cure.”

Councilwoman Carmel Patrick said during the meeting that if the City Council had more information about cannabis dispensaries before the 2021 vote, a different outcome might have occurred.

“It’s been very fluid and dynamic and I think some of our decisions might have been different if we had a clearer vision from the start,” Patrick said.

Councilwoman Doreen Ditoro, a persistent supporter of smoke shop zoning restrictions, expressed support for the 90-day cannabis moratorium, but noted that the revenue Schenectady receives from cannabis taxes is substantial.

The city is expected to collect $850,000 in cannabis excise tax revenue in 2025, compared to the $300,000 in cannabis revenue the city received in 2024.

“I like the revenue,” Ditoro said during the meeting.

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