Cannabis Dispensary Zoning

I'd like to talk to you about CVS Pharmacy. We have an ongoing boycott of CVS Pharmacy. They're one of the biggest promoters along with Walgreens of the dangerous drug, r u forty six. And it's come to my attention. It used to track this stuff. You kn…

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The second item I'd like to bring up, since this village is bound and determined to fly a transgender flag along with the entire Episcopal church, which represents the sterilization of children, mastectomies for children, all those evil things, you h…

Tried so hard. Yeah. So this it was actually a nice little walk down memory lane here going through all the different things that we have done over the years because it really does showcase how well the municipalities in our immediate vicinity here r…

e SROs fall under the purview of the school board, and the Village cannot host SROs in the school without the school asking for such. e The Police department is keeping a log of time spent in the schools in 2026 to understand the cost to the Village…

Just a couple of things to talk about this evening. As many in the community are aware, the engineering department has received a change of use application from a convenience store to cannabis dispensary for 370 South Riverside Avenue. The planning b…

But it's all with positive intent. It's regarding the dispensary matter. You know, my understanding is that most municipalities that have retail dispensaries have more than one, typically two or more, you know, even if they're small villages. And New…

You know, what the only thing that seems to be in this board's control is zoning law. And so, you know, we've we've opted in. We can't change that. But what we can at least have a discussion around is future zoning. And, you know, I personally would …

I'd like to I would second that motion. I also think that there is an opportunity here to you know, I I have some real concerns about the location of the applicant from a school perspective. I know that there is some legislation from at the state lev…

I mean, just just a a point of clarification because I look I just looked it up. The distance between the cannabis dispensaries is 2,000 feet in municipalities population less than 20,000. If your population is more than 20,000, it's a 1,000 foot dis…

I'm not doing any news flash bulletin here. This is this will not be the first failure of the cannabis board in terms of communication and interpretation of of the law. So Yeah. They they previously

That's it. Thank you, deputy mayor. I want to thank John Ehler for the great start to the clean committee's regular cleanups. This was at on Riverside Avenue, North Riverside area, last Saturday. And despite it being a holiday weekend, we had a prett…

Village Manager Healy advised that the Engineering Department received a “Change of Use Application” for a Cannabis Dispensary at 370 South Riverside Avenue and the Planning Board will discuss this at their meeting on Apri…

Trustee Nachtaler stated that she is pleased that the State is funding the new signs along Route 9, on April 14th there is an annual Westchester County Holocaust commemoration at the Garden of Remembrance in White Plains from …

understanding under New York State law for a Village our size, is that a second dispensary would need to be 1,000 feet apart from an existing dispensary, and while this does not impact the current application, she asked that the Board…

Trustee Nicholson stated that she supports Trustee Nachtaler’s suggestion because she has some real concerns about the location of the current application from a school perspective; she understands there is some legislation on…

Village Manager Healy clarified that the distance between cannabis dispensaries is 2,000 feet in communities with a population of less than 20,000. Village Manager Healy also indicated that most of the Harmon area would be cov…

Village Manager Healy explained that we don’t generally refer matters to the Planning Board, and as detailed in Village Law the process is for the Village Board in consultation with the Village Manager, staff and the Village A…

Mayor Pugh thanked John Ealer for the great start to the Clean Committee’s regular clean-ups, and he and John Ealer are in the midst of a conversation about furthering support through the “Adopt a Highway” program and looks fo…

a) Weiss, Micci, Attorney for Best Dispensary Near Me - 370 South Riverside Ave. (79.13-1- 70) - Application for Change of Use from Retail to Cannabis Retail Dispensary Chairman Luntz opened the meeting by introducing Village Attorney …

Jeannette Koster said that what is before the Planning Board tonight is a minor site plan application for a change of use from a deli to a cannabis dispensary. Ms. Koster continued that the Village opted into or did not opt out of New York State’s ca…

Koster continued that the daycare center near the proposed dispensary is not governed by the state department of education, and therefore, its proximity to this site cannot be considered by the Planning Board as a reason to deny the application. Ms. …

The applicant’s attorney, Micci Weiss of Micci J. Weiss Law spoke on behalf of the applicant, Best Dispensary Near Me, Bay Street, LLC doing business as Mindset Cannabis Shop. Micci Weiss stated that the proposed use will be continued use for retail …

Micci Weiss went on to say that the proposed cannabis shop is expected to generate fewer daily customer visits than the existing convenience store, both of which involve short term trips. By report, the existing convenience store reports approximatel…

Micci Weiss stated that there will be security cameras inside and outside of the cannabis shop and the camera footage is kept for a minimum of 60 days, and they will have a backup generator. The cameras will always be active, and the Croton Police ca…

Anyone coming into the cannabis shop must be 21 years old and will need to show identification, no exceptions. Identification is checked again before a purchase is made, because that is best practice. All products come prepackaged, so there is no way…

The applicants submitted a recommendation from the Chief of Police in Tarrytown. The applicants believe that the existing lighting is sufficient for their use. Trash will be handled the same as it is now and they do not dispose of any cannabis waste…

2 they pride themselves on getting people in and out, and that the machine that reads the IDs gives an instant reading, and there is room for people to line up inside to have their ID scanned, and store employees are trained to move people in and ou…

Steve Krisky asked if there was flexibility in the proposed hours and the applicants replied by asking what was allowed in the Village code. The applicants would like to be open from 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m., but stated if no one was coming in later, th…

John Ghegan suggested that the applicants check out the roof of the building next door, and the applicants do not believe that the roof will affect their operations. All deliveries and cash pickups will go through the rear door of the business. Geof…

Geoff Haynes asked how many employees would be on premises, and the applicant answered that they can run with as few as two in the morning time, and three at peak time. The applicants expect that they will not be up to “peak” for at least the first m…

Chairman Luntz, for the benefit of the audience members present, stated that the Village Manager spent some time with the applicants exploring alternate locations for this cannabis shop, anticipating that this location may be controversial. Attorney …

3 the deli owner, the applicants got everything together to submit a municipal notification form to the Village, then wait 30 days to submit to the Office of Cannabis Management. Once they submitted to the Office of Cannabis Management, there was so…

Chairman Luntz asked the applicants to explain their proximity to the Chapel on Benedict Boulevard, as it is 200 feet, door to door, and the applicants said that there is a state requirement in terms of proximity to churches, so if they did not meet …

Drew Maniglia at 60 Hastings Ave. wanted to focus on the suitability of the location, noting that it shop is proposed to go in the biggest intersection in town, and it is the way that a lot of people get to the train station. Drew Maniglia feels that…

Drew Gamils of 34 Young Ave. spoke and wanted to focus her comment on site proximity protections. She stated that Happy Hearts offers universal Public Pre-K, which is regulated by education law. Drew Gamils believes there is some ambiguity with the l…

Cathy Connolly of 80 Young Ave. wanted to strongly urge the Planning Board to deny the marijuana dispensary at this location as it serves as a primary entryway into the Village and sets the tone for the community. More importantly, Cathy Connolly poi…

Dan Calandro of 1 Briggs Lane spoke next and said that he does not take marijuana, because of his job, he has been to dispensaries that are nicer than doctor’s offices. Dan Calandro is not worried about people smoking outside the dispensary. Dan Cala…

The applicant’s attorney Micci Weiss spoke and said that he appreciated hearing the resident’s concerns, but the Village allowed to allow cannabis, so they are allowed to open the shop here. Mr. Weiss said that the applicants followed the state proce…

Geoff Haynes said that Village attorney confirmed to the Planning Board that Happy Hearts is not considered a preschool, and they are not just taking the applicants word on that information. Chairman Luntz added that he agrees that this is not the ri…

Steve Krisky said that he would like to suggest that the applicants agreed to open their shop from 10:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m., and the applicants countered with 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., repeating again that more customers go to the existing deli. Geoff Hayn…

Steve Krisky made a motion to approve the change of use application from retail to a cannabis retail dispensary for Best Dispensary Near Me at 370 South Riverside Ave. with conditions relating to a grand opening plan, with the hours from 9:30 a.m. – …

Hi. So welcome everyone to the village of Croton on Hudson planning board meeting for Tuesday, 04/14/2026. We have two items on the agenda. The first being new new business. Apologize if I say the name wrong. Mitzi Weiss, attorney for Best Dispensary…

Thank you. Thank you very much. The let's get this. What's before the planning board tonight is a minor site plan approval application for a change of use from a deli, which is the current use to a cannabis dispensary. The just as a at at the outset,…

Good evening, mister chairman, members of the planning board, village attorney. My name is Mickey Weiss from the law office of Mickey j Weiss Law. I'm here on behalf of the applicant, Best Dispensary near Me Bay Street doing business as Mindset Canna…

So, we should be good with respect to the required parking spots, even though we're a less intense use than what's currently there, which which I'm about to get you. And so the proposed use is anticipated to generate fewer daily customer visits than …

I've never seen I this is for the past five, six years in multiple states. I've never seen a chief of police put that down on paper. And that, again, goes to show you how important that is to this group. Lighting the lighting is sufficient right now.…

And so we are not bringing, a neon sign smoke shop into your town. We are bringing a high end shop that's gonna function and look like an Apple store that people are gonna be proud to walk into and walk out of, and we're gonna be proud to be running …

The ID scanner is instant. It is I mean, it's in in in. So if we had four people outside, there's plenty of space in the store for them to line up and, you know, behind the stanchion that's there, and and we'll check their IDs. You're you cannot get …

dispensaries. And so we're not a medical dispensary. We're not allowed to hold ourselves out as one. It's type of license type in New York. And those medical dispensaries generally aren't permitted, the ones that you're speaking of, to sell adult use…

Cannabis. I mean, is it in So we sell we sell pre prepackaged flower products. We sell pre rolls. We sell various sorts of edibles, you know, that help you with pain or with sleep or with alertness. We sell topicals. We sell concentrates in various f…

That you're generally speaking, we don't want the, public to be able to see any clearly visible cannabis products. And so the film is what we're proposing now. If there were any other suggestions that you'd like to see instead of that film, like the …

we have a provisional license from the state of New York. We have site proximity protection. What that means is that the office of cannabis management has, advised that this site meets all of the requirements to be issued a full license. At this poin…

I will put a note into OCM tomorrow morning. What's OCM? We get approved tonight. The Office of Cannabis Management. Thank you. And so what generally happens is there's a lot of licenses that are just sitting out there because many people can't figur…

as Mickey explained earlier, the typical time for somebody to be in the store being tracked on our POS system which we can we check on our phones is is he said less than five minutes which is is like literally four and a half minutes for for average …

We visit I'll give a brief, and then Vinny can can can fill in some holes and any gaps that I leave. For about eight months, we searched through this village high and low. We knocked on every single business owner's door and asked them to leave their…

It's allowed under the state law. The truth is is that even being here, we wanna be a good partner, but there's no such thing as cannabis retail versus regular retail. It's it's retail to retail, And we're here, nevertheless, you know, paying profess…

not gonna pass. And if it did pass, it would not be retroactive. I mean, the problem lies within the city and the five boroughs. I mean, if that law were to be passed, more than 80% of the dispensaries in the five boroughs would have to shut down, wh…

It's a it's it's a beautiful river town. It reminds me of Tarrytown. Tarrytown, I went to Tarrytown in 2020. I was doing a different business, and I knew I was gonna wanna get into cannabis. So I bought the building on the street, and it so happened …

So look, you're not allowed to consume on-site at all. It's not allowed. But cannabis is being consumed here in the village. Okay? Whether it's bought at a store on Riverside Avenue or elsewhere, and none of our customers are gonna come and smoke on …

So I don't think that the board wanted a dispensary in this location. My my last point is is sort of a question about process, and it has to do with these notification the notification to the municipality that the lawyer alluded to earlier. You know,…

Drew Manila, Hastings Avenue. Let me sign in here. I think I'd like to focus on the suitability of these specific locations since you've already mentioned that is obviously contentious. Why it's contentious? Well, this is a major three way. It's actu…

They've said themselves they have a unique experience. They're drawing people in, not just from Croton, from the streets in the vicinity, but from other towns. Right? So this is not, simply increasing foot traffic. This is about bringing a lot more c…

Susan Screlia, 56 Truesdale Drive. Gun shops, strip clubs, gambling facilities, and cannabis dispensaries are all legal. But legality does not make them healthy, appropriate, or beneficial for a small family centered village of 8,000 residents. When …

Those safeguards need to be put in place, and that's the only way that we protect ourselves as a community, and they failed to do that. That absence of planning is evident in the current proposal, a dispensary near day care, a music school that serve…

Honestly, if approved, I hope that it's a colossal failure and that no dispensary owner ever thinks twice about opening a shop here ever again. I find it pretty pathetic to think that a cannabis cons dispensary can survive in this village, but that a…

Hi. Cathy Connolly, 80 Young Avenue. I have some prepared comments, but also some comments to things I heard this evening. I will keep it under three minutes. First of all, thank you very much for allowing us to speak. I know you didn't have to do th…

Dan Calandro, Warmbriggs Lane, Cronon, Hudson. I've been a resident in this town for about fifty three years, so I've seen a lot come and go. And I don't partake in the marijuana because of my job. But I know more people actually, a family member's h…

Riley Moeller, village resident and business owner. Just sign in here. Home address or business address on the sign in form? Alright. So as I said, my name is Riley Moeller. My wife and I are raising two kids in the village here, and we own the local…

Good evening, everyone. Ron Napolitany, local business owner and as well as, you know, several building lots and property in the village. Originally, I was in charge when I was when I was applying to put the building up at the old Gulf Station where …

My name is Ed Riely. I come from Truesdale Drive. It's a shame that this, subject has to be brought before the planning board to begin with. If the members of the village board had done their job four years ago, they would have turned down marijuana …

Look. I I respect and appreciate hearing from, some of the concerns and then and some of, the people in support, which, you know, is is how things are. Like, it's a political issue. And so you're gonna get people who have opinions on things. But four…

In other words, there's more people, more vehicles that are that are existing today than there will be if this board approves us and and we open up. And then, again, we're a lot of folks here are concerned about the day care, but nobody from the day …

expect it, but that's what I got. And and look, on on a on the on the cannabis issue in general here, like, we've, as a state, been licensed for now, what, four, five years. You have not seen like you said, let's test it out. There's no issues. There…

yeah, a lot of letters prior to this meeting, and there were the fear of the increase in crime was mentioned, more than once. So I actually made a call yesterday to, the police department in Ossing because I know that there are two, dispensaries ther…

I'd like you to be opening well past whatever rush hour there is down to the train station in the morning. That I would be better for us. So 09:30 to 09:30. You had already proposed 09:30 so I don't I'd rather you not go to nine to open. You've alrea…

With all due respect, you're putting an extra condition on for the specifically. Again, the current use, people go there for coffee and breakfast, and more people are gonna go and stop at the deli right now in the morning that are gonna come into our…

Which is ten hours a day. That's my understanding. Right? Hours per week. 70 per week is ten hours a day, not Yeah. Twelve hours. Because that's the minimum from the office of cannabis management, right, is what the rug you're quoting. Again, like, w…

I'm partially basing it on what I see liquor stores doing. I see a dispensary is very much like a liquor store. And to the best of my knowledge, the liquor stores in town don't open till 10AM. And to my best of my knowledge, at least the Van Wick and…

I can make a motion to approve the change of use from retail to a cannabis dispensary for best dispensary near me at 370 South Riverside Avenue with the conditions relating to the grand opening plan with the hours that we were discussing of 09:30AM t…

like the their licenses is running on a parallel track. They're going to get their license regardless of what happens here. You could put it in as a condition of opening that they have their license. That makes perfect sense. Alright. Well, let's add…

Thank you, mayor. So, I was asked to provide just a statement based on the actions of the planning board last night related to the cannabis dispensary. As many are aware, the planning board approved a change of use last evening for a cannabis dispens…

Leslie Pollak thanked the Board for not voting for PNW BOCES Board Trustee candidate. She requested information on committee member selection.  She also asked for tenure rationales. Why aren't academics in the Superintendent reports? We need answers …

So the entire process of promoting this marijuana store in Croton from the get go years ago has been an ugly process to piggyback on state programs because we have a direct connection to the state legislature. It's to curry favor with the legislature…

Name is Ed Riely from Truesdale Drive. Croton is going to pot, and the principal reason it's going to pot is not because this village board and the planning board unwisely approved a marijuana dispensary in the worst part of the village to to have th…

and then our clean volunteers will pick it up this Saturday. And, apparently, they pick up pounds and pounds and pounds of trash. So something to think about. Don't litter. Don't litter. Don't litter at everybody on Earth Day. I also just want to cal…

That one, we we learned in in some of the some of the remarks that some of the organizers had made about one in three of our Croton kids participate currently in Little League. So that's that's pretty amazing. On April 14, that last Tuesday, trustee …

Well, just, quickly speaking to the cannabis matter. Obviously, I do my best to advise, the village, and my advice generally is either sometimes it's public, sometimes it's private. But in the context, privileged or nonprivileged, but in the context …

Ed Riely, 110 Truesdale Drive, Croton on Hudson, expressed his objection to a marijuana dispensary in the Harmon district and objected to the entire process the Board went through to allow this in our Village, believes that the …

Trustee Nicholson advised that the Recreation Advisory Committee met and will be preparing a report of our parks, Earth Day activities will be held on May 2nd, the Clean Committee is holding a clean-up at the train station this …

Trustee Simon advised that the HEART Committee met on April 9th and they will be announcing their next Croton honoree shortly, April 10th the Yacht Club held an event where Croton Historian Marc Cheshire presented an overview of …

Village Attorney Subin stated that the Village does not write State law with respect to Cannabis Dispensaries, but our Planning Board and Planner have done an extensive review of the application and believes there was as much …

For temporary signs, it was suggested that they be dated when they are put up either on the front of the sign, or on the back in sharpie. Language should also be included that any signage required by law be excluded from permit regulations, for examp…

we proceed to item six, a discussion on a proposed moratorium on cannabis dispensaries in the village.

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Yes. So thank you, mayor. This is just, coming up because, there's obviously been a lot of discussion regarding cannabis and where it can be, located in the village. There's been continual updates from the office of cannabis management as to, definit…

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yeah. Yeah. I get I'll jump in. Yeah. Just see, they borrowed when writing this law from First Amendment law and said time, place, and manner restrictions. And the way they used it is to say that you can have reasonable time, place, and manner restri…

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Right. I just I just wanna emphasize one thing that Josh is raising is that, even though he's we were talking about zones, the state tends to look at this as retail. So if you allow retail in certain zoning districts, they assume you're also gonna al…

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corner on the market for things that have happened before the moratorium. Right? So I don't know I just I just feel like there's a little liability in doing this the way we're doing it Because now there's no competition. We already know we're having …

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On a motion by TRUSTEE SIMON, seconded by TRUSTEE NICHOLSON, the Village Board voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing on Local Law Introductory No. 9 of 2026 for Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room of th…

Yep. Alright. On further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Alright. We proceed to public hearing on local law number nine of 2026 to amend chapter 99, cannabis of the village code to establish a temporary moratorium on cannabis dispensaries. Do I have a…

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the impact of the moratorium? Yeah. So thank you, mayor. So the moratorium is as it says, is a temporary measure. It's in effect for a set period of time, which I believe we said was Six. Six months? Six months. Yes. Three month extension. Right? Cor…

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Ed Riely from, Truesdale Drive. Quite frankly, I'm shocked. I thought this place would be packed packed in outrage of what the village allowed to happen with the institution of pot pot wholesale store number one replacing an ice cream store, near a s…

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Hi. I'm Gwen. I live right now on Mountain Trail. I've lived in Croton since 1953. Long term, I love it here. I wouldn't call anybody pathetic. I don't like name calling, to be honest. Kinda takes the speaker down a notch. I don't have a problem with…

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Whereas the village board is desirous of conducting a review of existing zoning for cannabis dispensaries and whereas a moratorium on future dispensary applications has been proposed to allow the board time to conduct this review. And whereas local l…

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I think this moratorium is is a a great idea. And, you know, I as I mentioned, where there's typically one dispensary in a market, a second, potentially a third, and and more follow. So this gives our village and the board an opportunity to take a st…

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Yep. And I would just add on to that getting as as close as we can to an ironclad map is is what I think the the real virtue of the moratorium is so that we can you know, understanding that, know, our friends in Albany at the cannabis office, you kno…

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anything except the dispensaries and the on place consumption. So you have a zoning code which would require that type of business to be in a particular zone. Obviously not next door to a church and it's it's a commercial use, but the, statutory law …

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I'm Gwen Chamslioli, Mountain Trail. I feel like it's point counterpoint, but yeah. Don't bring illegal drugs into Croton. Don't do it. Fentanyl kills. Heroin, Coke. I don't think any of those should be illegally brought into Croton, and I don't thin…

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Hi. Wesley Blunt, 35 Young Avenue. I came here tonight, I I and I'm very sorry because I probably should have paid more attention earlier to this. But when we've been when my mother and I saw that the moratorium was proposed, part of it to me was jus…

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It has been the thing to me is that the whole discussion of legalizing pot in the state of New York has been kind of a mess from the word go and there that we've fallen into this again, I like as you said that the cannabis department from the state j…

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His name is Stanley Kowalski, and he looks like him. Okay? So and when Stanley's mister Stanley's misbehaving, he goes home. We know Stanley has an issue when he gets overexcited. Okay? Things can be done to make that park more popular. There should …

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So I would think you ought to consider moving it up. And the other final thing I have, I guess it was about a year ago when the proposal for we all know that dispensaries are allowed now in New York and all across the country. And it was proposed to …

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Thank you. I decided to wear a patriotic outfit this evening. It's it's America's two hundred and fiftieth birthday. I do appreciate everyone coming out. Just a little bit on process, you know, we have, work sessions. We only schedule one work sessio…

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It was actually a preliminary conversation because they were trying to get an application with the state. We sent a positive recommendation for that dispensary, at down at ShopRite. Their lease fell through. So it was not the village that stopped tha…

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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Village Board of Trustees hereby adopts Local Law Introductory No. 8 of 2026 to amend Chapter 197, Streets and Sidewalks, of the Village Code to update the provisions related to prior notice of defects, which upo…

Village Board of Trustees June 17, 2026 Page 3 Village Manager Healy explained that the moratorium is a temporary measure to give the Village Board the opportunity to review our existing zoning based on changes in regulations from …

COMMENTS: Ed Riely, 110 Truesdale Drive, Croton on Hudson stated that he is outraged that the Village Board allowed this to happen in our Village and is extremely concerned that this will be targeted to young people and feels it is…

Village Manager Healy advised that the Board would need to pass a resolution to extend the moratorium during a regular open meeting. There being no further comments to come before the Board, a motion to close the Public Hearing was…

WHEREAS Local Law Introductory No. 9 of 2026 has been drafted for such purposes; and, Village Board of Trustees June 17, 2026 Page 4 WHEREAS a Public Hearing on Local Law Introductory No. 9 of 2026 was opened and closed on June 17, 2026, and WHERE…

Village Attorney Dickson stated that our goal is to present a zoning code amendment that is defensible and she and the Planner are studying the mechanisms for approving locations as well as closely monitoring the latest leg…

Ed Riely, 110 Truesdale Drive, Croton on Hudson, stated that Croton had the option to opt out of allowing cannabis dispensaries in our Village, but the Board did not, and he believes this was done because of the possible tax …

Wesley Blount, 35 Young Avenue, Croton on Hudson, stated that he did not think we would have to have a discussion about dispensaries in Croton because he believed it was clear that the sentiment by many in the community was…

John Sasso, Morningside Drive, Croton on Hudson, NY, stated that Croton has the only dog park in Westchester that closes at 4pm and asked that the hours be extended to 8pm, he also asked the Board to consider moving comments …

Trustee Nicholson thanked everyone who spoke this evening, and advised that the dog park will be on an upcoming work session agenda, advised that the Board had some preliminary conversations with the applicant regarding a c…

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