[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of West Seneca
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-1-2021 by L.L. No. 9-2021]
It is the intent of this article to opt out of allowing on-site
cannabis consumption sites in the Town of West Seneca that would otherwise
be allowed under New York State Cannabis Law Article 4.
This article is adopted pursuant to New York State Cannabis
Law § 131 that expressly authorizes the Town Board to adopt
a local law requesting the Cannabis Control Board to prohibit the
establishment of cannabis on-site consumption licenses within the
jurisdiction of the Town.
The Town Board of the Town of West Seneca hereby opts out of
allowing on-site cannabis consumption sites from being established
and operated within the Town's jurisdiction as authorized under New
York State Cannabis Law Article 4.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, or part of
this article or the application thereof to any person, firm or corporation,
or circumstance shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be invalid or unconstitutional, such order or judgment shall not
affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be
confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
or part of this article or in its application to the person, individual,
firm or corporation or circumstance directly involved in the controversy
in which such judgment or order shall be rendered.
This article is subject to a referendum on petition in accordance
with New York State Cannabis Law § 131 and the procedure
outlined in New York State Municipal Home Rule Law § 24.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: No valid petition for referendum was filed.
This article shall take effect immediately upon filing with
the Secretary of State.
[Adopted 3-13-2023 by L.L. No. 3-2023]
In order to promote the health, safety and general welfare of
the residents of the Town of West Seneca, including property values,
community character, quality of life, business climate and the prevention
of crime, this article is intended to restrict cannabis uses to being
located in certain zoning districts as more fully set forth herein.
Further, that all cannabis uses proposed to operate within the Town
shall be required to obtain a special use permit regardless of the
zoning classification to ensure the strict compliance with these regulations.
Cannabis uses, including retail dispensaries, storage facilities,
warehouses, cultivators, nurseries, processing facilities, distributors
and distribution centers, adult-use cooperatives, adult-use microbusinesses,
and delivery services and operations shall be permitted subject to
the following restrictions.
A.
No such cannabis uses shall be located within 1,000 feet of another
existing cannabis facility set forth above.
B.
No such cannabis use shall be located within 500 feet of the property
line at locations of community facilities and/or where children and
cannabis users are known to gather, including, but not limited to,
public parks, childcare centers, playgrounds, drug rehabilitation
centers, medical practitioner's offices, community centers, and
other dispensaries.
C.
No such cannabis use facility shall be located within 500 feet of
a school building or property and/or within 200 feet of a church or
other similar place of worship.
(1)
In the event that a school existing and authorized by the State Education
Department is located on property where a place of worship also exists,
no such cannabis use facility shall be located within 500 feet of
the school building or property onto which the building is located.
D.
No cannabis use facility shall be located in any area zoned residential
in any form nor shall such facility be permitted to abut any property
used for residential purposes, including, but not limited to, single-family
residences, duplexes, multifamily residences, or any mixed use property
that contains any residence.
E.
No cannabis use facility may be located in any historic district.
F.
No retail dispensaries and/or distribution centers may operate between
the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Any cannabis use set forth above, regardless of its location,
shall take all necessary security measures at any facility permitted
by a special use permit. Unless otherwise required as a condition
of the special use permit, the following requirements must be met.
A.
All facilities where a cannabis use shall be established shall provide
for fencing and/or other screening or security feature acceptable
to the Town Board around the perimeter of the property at the height
and type established by the Planning Board.
B.
All facilities where a cannabis use shall be established shall install
a fully operational 4K camera system, at a minimum, sufficient to
be used at night and covering all areas on the property to be so used.
The system used shall be capable for recording and all recordings
must be kept for a minimum of 30 calendar days.
C.
In any facility where a cannabis use is established where the general
public and/or customers are invited shall provide for continual armed
security guard presence while such facility is open to the public.
Any such security presence shall be certified by the local, state,
or federal government and shall provide such information as may be
required by any local police agency from time to time.
D.
In any facility where a cannabis use is established where the general
public and/or customers are invited shall provide for secure locations
where cash is to be kept on the premises.
E.
In the event of deliveries from the cannabis use facility, provisions
shall be made for adequate security consistent with these regulations
which must be provided in advance to the West Seneca Police and any
local, state, and/or federal police agency.
F.
Home cultivation cannabis shall be screened from view from neighboring
properties and shall otherwise be secured with appropriate fencing
to deter removal by third parties.
(1)
No cannabis shall be cultivated, grown, planted, and/or maintained
in any front or side yard.
(2)
Individuals cultivating, planting, growing, or maintaining any cannabis
plants shall register with the Code Enforcement Office providing their
name, address, and location of any plants prior to cultivating, planting,
growing or maintaining any cannabis plants.
(3)
Sufficient setbacks shall be maintained at all times of no less than
15 feet from any property line.
A.
Only one sign advertising the business shall be permitted on the
building and same shall not exceed 10% of the size of the wall upon
which the sign is located. No freestanding signs shall be permitted.
B.
Any illuminated sign shall not be flashing, rotating, or otherwise
have any movement whatsoever as to not distract highway traffic or
disturb any adjoining residential properties.
C.
Motor vehicles, vans, trucks, trailers, and/or similar items shall
not be parked on the property which advertise the business in any
way beyond the name of the business in lettering not to exceed 12
inches per letter. Such vehicles shall not be left on the premises
except in a fully enclosed garage during any period of time that the
cannabis use facility is not open to the public.
D.
Any murals or other painting options shall be set forth in the application
for a special use permit and are subject to the further reasonable
requirements of the Planning Board. No paintings or murals that might
distract drivers on any public highway or that could reasonably be
interpreted as advertising to minors shall be permitted.
A.
Odor at the facility where a cannabis use shall be established shall
be maintained to limit odors onto adjoining properties to the greatest
extent possible.
B.
Sufficient parking shall be provided on the premises for any customers
and employees such that no on-street parking shall be required or
permitted.
C.
Mobile sales shall be strictly prohibited. Nothing herein shall prevent
licensed delivery vehicles with sufficient security features from
making deliveries. All delivery operations shall be listed and described
as part of the special use permit application.
D.
No on-site use, consumption, sampling (other than for testing purposes),
ingestion, injection, or similar functions shall be permitted at any
time.
E.
Any permitted use shall be pursuant to a special use permit as provided
for under the Zoning Code of the Town of West Seneca.
F.
Drive-through service windows and/or customer pick-up lanes must
provide sufficient security features and shall not provide for direct
access between a vehicle in the drive-through and the cannabis employee.
(1)
License plate recognition cameras shall be placed such that they
record the rear license plate of the vehicle while the vehicle is
at the drive-through window and at the entrances to the property.
Such placement shall be reviewed by the West Seneca Police Department
at the time of installation. Videos must be retained for a minimum
of 30 days.
(a)
The West Seneca Police Department shall be provided access to
the monitoring system upon request. Alternatively, the cannabis use
facility may provide a direct link of such camera system to the Police
Department.
(2)
No sliding windows may be used for drive-through access. Windows
must provide sufficient protection from breaking from the outside.
(3)
There shall be no direct contact between the employee and the customer.
Retractable receipt/delivery devices shall be used at all times the
drive-through window is used.
(4)
There shall be adequate space on any site which uses a drive-through
window to provide for the stacking of vehicles to prevent vehicles
from waiting on any public roadway and/or blocking any other sidewalk
or area of ingress and egress.
G.
Prior to opening any cannabis use facility, the Code Enforcement
Office, Engineering Office, and the West Seneca Police Department
shall have the right to inspect all premises to ensure compliance
with these provisions and all other provisions of law.
(1)
The Town of West Seneca and its respective departments shall have
the right to periodically inspect all cannabis use facilities to ensure
compliance with these provisions and all other provisions of law without
the necessity of an administrative search warrant.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any location, property, building, structure, accessory structure,
or facility where cannabis, cannabis products, and/or related materials
are located, stored, warehoused, sold, manufactured, used, smoked,
ingested, processed, grown, cultivated, bartered, delivered, transported,
advertised, or stored including retail dispensaries, cultivators,
nurseries, processing facilities, distributors and distribution centers,
adult-use cooperatives, adult-use microbusinesses, warehouses, and
delivery services and operations.
Any location where children congregate including, but not
limited to, playgrounds, libraries, public parks, bicycle paths, public
pools, splash pads, athletic facilities and fields, and child-care
centers.
Any building, structure, location, property, business, or
entity that is licensed by the state for the purposes of consuming,
smoking, ingesting, injecting, or otherwise using cannabis, any cannabis
product, and/or any cannabis-related product.
A state-issued cooperative license authorizes the acquisition,
possession, cultivation, processing and sale from the licensed premises
of the adult-use cooperative by such licensee to duly licensed distributors,
on-site consumption sites, registered organization and/or retail dispensaries;
but not directly to cannabis consumers.
The growing, cloning, harvesting, drying, curing, grading,
and trimming of cannabis plants. A state-issued cultivator's
license authorizes the acquisition, possession, distribution, cultivation
and sale of cannabis from the licensed premises of the adult-use cultivator
to a licensed processor.
A state-issued delivery license authorizes the delivery of
cannabis and cannabis products by licensees, independent of another
adult-use cannabis license, to cannabis consumers. Delivery licenses
may not have a total of more than 25 individuals, or the equivalent
thereof, providing full-time paid delivery services to cannabis consumers
per week under one license.
Any person who sells at wholesale any cannabis product for
which a license is required. A state-issued distributor's license
authorizes the acquisition, possession, distribution and sale of cannabis
from the licensed premises of a licensed adult-use processor, adult-use
cooperative, microbusiness, or registered organization authorized
to sell adult-use cannabis, to duly licensed retail dispensaries,
on-site consumption sites and adult-use delivery licensees.
Growing cannabis on any residential property for personal
use.
A licensee that may act as a cannabis producer for the cultivation
of cannabis, a cannabis processor, a cannabis distributor, and a cannabis
retailer. A microbusiness license authorizes the limited cultivation,
processing, distribution, delivery, and sale of their own adult-use
cannabis and cannabis products.
A licensee that produces only clones, immature plants, seeds,
and other agricultural products used specifically for the planting,
propagation, and cultivation of cannabis by licensed adult use cannabis
cultivators, microbusinesses, cooperatives and registered organizations.
A state-issued nursery license authorizes the production, sale and
distribution of clones, immature plants, seeds, and other agricultural
products used specifically for the planting, propagation, and cultivation
of cannabis by licensed adult-use cultivators, cooperatives, microbusinesses,
or registered organizations.
A licensee that extracts concentrated cannabis and/or compounds,
blends, extracts, infuses, or otherwise manufactures concentrated
cannabis or cannabis products. A state-issued processor's license
authorizes the acquisition, possession, processing, and sale of cannabis
from the licensed premises of adult-use cultivators to licensed distributors.
"Retailer" means any person who sells at retail any cannabis
product, to cannabis consumers. A state-issued retail dispensary license
authorizes the acquisition, possession, sale and delivery of cannabis
from the licensed premises of the retail dispensary by such licensee
to cannabis consumers.
Any building, structure, location, property, business, or
entity where any cannabis and/or cannabis product is maintained and/or
stored for any length of time.
The following zones shall be used for specific cannabis businesses
as described above:
