ELDRED –– At their regular meeting earlier this month, the Highland Town Board moved to vote on whether the town will allow retail cannabis dispensaries and cannabis on-site consumption locations to be opened and operated within the town.

Town of Highland Supervisor Jeff Haas told the Democrat that the board unanimously voted in favor of opting out of allowing on-site consumption locations within the town. He also reported that the Board did not vote on retail cannabis dispensaries during the meeting.

Abstaining from voting on the dispensaries portion of the cannabis inquiry would mean that the town would automatically opt-in to only allowing retail cannabis dispensaries, as the deadline for towns to opt-out is this Friday, December 31.

Haas explained that one reason the board moved to opt-out of the on-site locations was due to changes in the zoning codes that would need to be implemented if the town were to host these businesses, as well as other changes that may prove costly.

According to Haas, New York State has not offered any monetary assistance for the process.
“They're just going to give [the town] a portion of the sales tax. I think that's just going to be negligible for our community,” Haas explained.