Opinion Commentary: State actions on cannabis shops are a lesson for municipalities

Local governments cannot set zoning restrictions on these legal businesses that go beyond state law.

By Linda M. Baldwin,
For the Times Union
Oct 14, 2025

Last week, the Cannabis Control Board issued two advisory opinions that should serve as a cautionary tale for local governments across New York state. The Oct. 6 opinions determined that zoning restrictions imposed on cannabis shops by the Long Island towns of Riverhead and Southampton violated New York’s Cannabis Law. It’s a turning point in New York’s cannabis regulatory landscape, with major implications for how local governments must interpret and enforce state law.

Some local governments that did not “opt out” of hosting legal cannabis businesses back in 2023 thought they could benefit from local tax revenue on cannabis sales while using local zoning powers to control where, when and how state-licensed shops are able to operate within their borders. The town of Riverhead passed local zoning laws that applied distance requirements between cannabis shops and between shops and schools that conflicted with state requirements. These zoning restrictions prevented two licensed cannabis shops from opening even though the shops had received location approval from the state.

The shop owners sued the town and won, with a State Supreme Court ruling that the town did not have the authority to set local restrictions that conflicted with state law and regulations.

Two other cases that have been filed against the town of Southampton over its zoning restrictions have not yet been decided.

However, now that the Cannabis Control Board has weighed in and clarified the ground rules, towns and other local governments across New York should be forewarned that they, too, will risk lawsuits from frustrated licensees if they do not revise their local laws to conform to state Cannabis Law.

According to state regulations, the board’s opinions will be presumptive evidence in any future court actions brought by municipalities whose regulations do not comply with state law, making it easier for cannabis retail licensees to operate at state-approved locations.    

What does this mean for the rest of New York’s local governments that did not opt out?  Well, for starters, each should carefully review its local laws and regulations to make sure that they are in line with state law and are not unfairly or unlawfully holding back these hard-working business owners from operating in accordance with their state-issued licenses. Then municipalities should begin the process of amending their laws, regulations and procedures as needed.

What happened in Riverhead and Southampton should be a wake-up call. Struggling entrepreneurs should not be forced to bring lawsuits in order to make local governments do what state law already requires them to do.

Linda M. Baldwin served as general counsel to the state Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management from 2023-2024.

Oct 14, 2025
Linda M. Baldwin