WILTON – Following the closure of a facility in Commerce Park, which had been connected to cannabis storage, the Wilton Town Board has decided to impose a 90-day moratorium on cannabis warehousing, processing, and commercial cultivation as it works to make alterations to its zoning code.
“It’s not a, ‘no,’ it’s just we want to make sure we get it right for everybody,” said Councilmember Duane Bogardus, at the board’s Nov. 7 meeting where the moratorium was first discussed.
The board held a public hearing on Dec. 5 to gain input from the community about the moratorium. No one from the public spoke either in favor or against it. However, Councilmember Raymond O’Conor said he had met with representatives from the cannabis industry to discuss how best to approach the burgeoning industry.
“I think the way we’d like to approach it is by making some modifications to our zoning ordinance related to cannabis use,” O’Conor suggested at the board’s Dec. 5 meeting.
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Initially, the board proposed a six-month moratorium, but O’Conor seemed confident in a much tighter window.
“I think we can accomplish that in the next 60 days and then subsequent to that we could have a public hearing on any code changes,” he said.
O’Conor said the board would follow a similar path it took a couple of years ago when it was deciding the town’s solar regulations.
“We’ve been through this in the recent past,” he recalled. “We put a temporary moratorium on the review and approval of large solar arrays until we could take a look at the ordinance.”
In that instance, the board proposed amendments to the town’s zoning code to direct the placement of solar arrays. Likewise, O’Conor said, the board will use this moratorium to consider where cannabis cultivation, processing, and storage facilities would best fit in the community.
In 2021, the board opted out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and on-site consumption within the town. O’Conor said that the decision will not be altered by the moratorium, nor by any proposed changes to the town’s ordinance.
“That’s off the table for right now,” he said.
Additionally, the moratorium does not affect the home grow option, which is permissible in accordance with the state statute. Adults 21 and older in New York State can grow up to three mature and three immature cannabis plants for personal use only. The state law says no residence can have more than six mature, or harvestable, and six immature, or non-harvestable, plants at any one time. Selling, trading, or bartering homegrown cannabis is prohibited.
“Not just our community but a lot of communities, as new businesses and industries come along, have to sort of take a time out to figure out where the most appropriate places and rules are related to this,” he said.
The cannabis moratorium is scheduled to remain in place until March 2025. O’Conor said the board should have a slate of proposed revisions to the town’s zoning ordinance within the next month or two, at which point there will be another public hearing to discuss the changes before they are voted on.
Alex Portal is a staff writer. Contact: 518-742-3274, aportal@poststar.com.
