{"id":139792,"date":"2026-02-20T10:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139792\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:16:08","slug":"3-long-island-towns-sue-new-york-state-over-control-of-marijuana-dispensaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139792\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Long Island towns sue New York State over control of marijuana dispensaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Long Island towns are suing New York State in an effort to keep local control over zoning rules and other guidelines for marijuana dispensaries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also seeks to nullify the authority of the Cannabis Control Board \u2014 the state regulators for the marijuana industry\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to issue advisory opinions that can be used in court to challenge the legality of restrictive town zoning laws.<\/p>\n

The towns and boards of Riverhead, Southampton and Brookhaven filed suit against New York State, the Cannabis Control Board and the Office of Cannabis Management in Albany County Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur understanding is that we would maintain home-rule control over the zoning, that we could regulate the time, place and manner of the dispensaries\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and now we’re being told that’s not the case,\u201d Southampton Supervisor Maria Moore said in an interview.<\/p>\n

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUNDRiverhead, Southampton and Brookhaven towns are suing New York State and its cannabis regulators\u00a0in an effort to keep local control over zoning rules for marijuana dispensaries.\u00a0\u00a0The towns want\u00a0control over\u00a0distance\u00a0buffers from places\u00a0like schools,\u00a0and to remove\u00a0the state Cannabis Control Board’s ability to issue advisory opinions that can be used in court to challenge\u00a0town laws.Several cannabis licensees in Riverhead and Southampton were denied permission\u00a0to open due to strict distance buffers from schools and other places. One business owner said the state’s power is a\u00a0necessary\u00a0check on town restrictions.<\/p>\n

The state Attorney General\u2019s Office did not return a\u00a0request for comment on the lawsuit. The Office of Cannabis Management does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson said. The defendants have yet to submit an answer to the towns\u2019 complaint, which was filed Feb. 6.<\/p>\n

\"Southampton<\/p>\n

Southampton Supervisor Maria Moore. Credit: Newsday\/James Carbone<\/p>\n

‘Unreasonably impracticable’<\/p>\n

In October, the CCB ruled Riverhead and Southampton\u2019s cannabis ordinances \u201cunreasonably impracticable\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and “forbidden” under state law after four dispensary businesses whose plans were stymied by town laws filed grievances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dispensaries in Southampton\u00a0must obtain a special permit and are limited to\u00a0only two of the town’s\u00a0eight commercial business districts, while Riverhead requires dispensaries be at least\u00a01,000 feet\u00a0from\u00a0schools \u2014 double the state requirement.<\/p>\n

The CCB is considering one\u00a0“unreasonably impracticable” request by a dispensary business in Brookhaven Town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those opinions are \u201carbitrary,\u201d the lawsuit says, because the State Legislature did not provide any standards for the CCB to make its determination.<\/p>\n

The CCB also relied only on information from the cannabis licensees, which \u201cunfairly denied\u201d the towns an opportunity to present contrary information and arguments, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate those CCB opinions and asks the court to strike down the section of state law that allows the CCB to deem local laws \u201cunreasonably impracticable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The towns also ask the court to nullify state regulations that imposed distance buffers between dispensaries and various other places\u00a0including schools and houses of worship. Those regulations say that the state’s buffers preempt, or supersede,\u00a0more restrictive\u00a0local cannabis ordinances.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing in the Cannabis Law authorizes either the CCB or the OCM to define such time, place, or manner restrictions and limitations or to impose them on local municipalities,\u201d the towns\u2019 complaint says.<\/p>\n

Several cannabis licensees in Riverhead and Southampton were denied permissions to open due to strict distance requirements from schools, churches and other places.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brothers<\/p>\n

Brothers Sean and Joe Lustberg outside of the building in Hampton Bays that they seek to open as a marijuana dispensary. Credit: Max Pierre Louis<\/p>\n

Calls to check town guidelines<\/p>\n

Sean Lustberg, whose attempt to open a dispensary in Hampton Bays has been stifled by Southampton\u2019s zoning for two years, said in an interview that the \u201cunreasonably impracticable\u201d process is a necessary check on\u00a0town restrictions. His business, Mottz Only Authentic New York Style, used the CCB\u2019s decision to help win its lawsuit against Southampton Town in Suffolk County Supreme Court. The town\u00a0has appealed that court decision, and Lustberg’s dispensary has not been given permission to open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think it’s important that they put that process in place for licensees to be able to kind of challenge what the town is saying,\u201d Lustberg said. \u201cThere are a lot of municipalities in Long Island that have kind of put extra restrictions on top of what the state law is.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Brookhaven Town,\u00a0dispensaries are limited to industrial areas. Simply Green in Coram, which\u00a0opened in a downtown-style business zone on Nov. 7,\u00a0has asked the CCB for an<\/a>\u00a0opinion on Brookhaven’s zoning law, Newsday previously reported. That store is not mentioned in the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simply Green co-owner Fred Wightman\u00a0said he is talking\u00a0with Brookhaven officials to obtain the\u00a0permits necessary to remain open, despite the\u00a0dispensary not being in an industrial area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said\u00a0the town joined the suit to protect its zoning laws.<\/p>\n

“It is almost impossible to be a partner with New York State because they do not act in an above-board fashion and continually demonstrate disdain for the values of the people of Long Island,” Panico said in a text.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brookhaven<\/p>\n

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico. Credit: Newsday\/Drew Singh<\/p>\n

The towns\u2019 complaint said town lawmakers did not opt out of allowing cannabis sales because they believed they had the authority to regulate the operation and location of cannabis businesses under the Marihuana\u00a0Regulation and Taxation Act, the 2021 law that legalized recreational marijuana statewide. The towns adopted their laws months or years before state regulations were adopted, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

Riverhead, Brookhaven and Southampton are among the\u00a0four towns on Long Island\u00a0that\u00a0decided to\u00a0allow\u00a0dispensaries. Babylon, the other town to allow cannabis sales, is not a party in the lawsuit. Dispensaries on Native American\u00a0reservations are not subject to state regulations.<\/p>\n

Southampton and Riverhead\u00a0have not changed their zoning rules for cannabis businesses as a result of the lawsuits or CCB opinions.\u00a0The towns have permitted dispensaries to open in a few zoning-compliant areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Newsday’s Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

Alek Lewis covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island for Newsday. He previously worked as a reporter for RiverheadLOCAL, where he received awards from the New York Press Association and the Press Club of Long Island for his reporting on local government and politics. A Riverhead native, he is a graduate of Stony Brook University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three Long Island towns are suing New York State in an effort to keep local control over zoning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[610,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-139792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-local","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-new-york-state","13":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}