The village board unanimously voted last December to opt out and place its cannabis laws on the ballot to give voting village residents the final say.
It’s too late to request an application for an absentee ballot through the mail, but people can request an absentee ballot in person through Tuesday.
This election is for residents of the village and will only affect areas in the village, not outside of the village within the town of North Elba, according to Estling.
Village governments, unlike town governments, had the ability to opt out and then pass a resolution to place their cannabis laws on a ballot.
Mayor Art Devlin said the county is busy with early voting right now and couldn’t send more election resources.
While the group hasn’t solidified any zoning suggestions related to cannabis businesses yet, Leon said there have been some ideas “thrown around” about where those businesses would be zoned — primarily in commercial, business districts.
The committee has also discussed extending state regulations on how close a cannabis business can operate to schools and similar facilities.
There are nine types of adult use business licenses, including a cultivator license; nursery; processor; distributor; retail dispensary; delivery; on-site consumption; adult-use cooperative; and microbusiness license.
Then, she said, there will be a 60-day public comment period on the proposed regulations, after which the OCM would amend the regulations as necessary.
Of the 4% local tax, 25% of that revenue would go to Essex County and 75% would go to the municipality where the sale happened, according to the OCM.
Wright said that state tax on retail sales will be used to cover the cost of OCM operations, law enforcement training and programs to support equity applicants.
The state plans to increase its stock of “drug recognition experts,” or law enforcement that’s trained to tell if someone is driving while high.
If voters decide to keep the village opted out of dispensaries and/or on-site consumption licensing, the village board would still have the power to opt in at a later date.
Galvin said that the voter turnout will determine whether or not he’d be willing to opt in if voters decide to opt out — he wouldn’t want to stand by what 40 voters decided if “a ton” of people come forward and want to opt in later.