(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
The forested area beyond the parking lots behind the Kohl's and Hannaford buildings is part of the Weibel Plaza PUD. Among the proposed uses for the property is a marijuana dispensary. Northbound Exit 15 of the Northway sits beyond the trees.
Owners of property behind the Hannaford Supermarket and Kohl's department store buildings on Weibel Avenue in Saratoga Springs hope to change the zoning and the “use” of the property to allow for a marijuana dispensary, a lawyer for the developer told the Saratoga Springs City Council on Tuesday April 19. The forested property is part of the larger Weibel Plaza Planned Unit Development that had been created in 1992.
About 16 acres of the land in the PUD was never developed. Enough time has elapsed without development that it has reverted to its original residential zoning RR-1, a zoning type that no longer exists under the city’s new Unified Development Ordinance.
An attempt to change the zoning back to commercial as allowed in the PUD has been working its way through the city’s planning process since at least last May. The city council has held open a public hearing on the matter since some time last year.
The plans submitted in May included a warehouse and shipping distribution center as possible uses for the property.
In late March this the year, owner Baruch Aronson submitted paperwork to add a “marijuana dispensary and marijuana growing/processing” uses to the change of zoning application.
“We have had some discussions with the city, with the commissioners and the staff. We think it’s a great fit,” said Aronson’s lawyer Justin Grassi after he gave a short presentation to the Saratoga Spring City Council on Tuesday. He is a partner with the Jones Steves law firm of Saratoga Springs.
Although the regulations for dispensaries are still being worked out through New York State’s new Office of Cannabis Management, some already-known regulations are driving the decision.
Grassi said that finding a location in Saratoga’s downtown might be difficult because the dispensaries must be located away from schools, churches and even other dispensaries. Not too many locations downtown fit that description.
The PUD location, sandwiched as it is between the northbound off-ramp of Exit 15 and the grocery store may just be key, he said.
“The area is very unique behind the Hannaford. [It] may not be well-suited for traditional retail sales but well-suited for an establishment like this,” he said.
Last year, the city council did not vote on whether or not they wanted marijuana dispensaries or cafes in the city, which meant both were automatically allowed, under state law. Dispensaries are retail locations similar to liquor stores. Cafes are similar to bars. The city will get 3% of a 4% tax on the marijuana sales. The county retains the other 1%.
After a presentation to the city council, Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran said, “I’m strongly in favor of that” use in that location. Mayor Ron Kim closed the public hearing and said they expected to take it up in coming meetings.
Since a PUD is a change in the zoning law, the city council must approve the new use on the space and amend the law that created the PUD back in 1992.
As well, changing the law is only the first step. The owners would have to go back to the various planning boards to seek approval for any buildings, roads and landscaping on the development.
Completing all of this by year end would be ambitious, Grassi said, but they are moving quickly.
He added: “This is a fresh new use in New York State, and we don’t want to get behind the eight ball.”