This post was originally published on this site.
Join NY Cannabis Insider at our next industry networking event on Aug. 15 at Madame Mikette’s in NYC. Tickets will sell out.
Unlike many other conditional cannabis dispensary license holders, Seth Marks hasn’t had to navigate the muddy waters of the New York State Dormitory Authority (DASNY) to get his retail cannabis dispensary on track for an early 2024 opening.
Marks, who hopes to open the first retail cannabis dispensary in Rockland County, said he’s heard from other would-be purveyors that going through DASNY’s $200 million low-interest loan program was like being a mouse on a treadmill.
“There were a lot of problems as far as DASNY goes,” he said. “People have told me there were a lot of hurdles to go through, and it was way too complex.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he added. “They have all the right intentions, and they’re helping out a lot of people.” But finding a suitable storefront can be a daunting task, Marks said.
“Thank goodness I don’t have to go through that since I have my own property.”
Since receiving his Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license in April as part of the second round of approvals, Marks has received a go-ahead from the Office of Cannabis Management and the Village of Nyack for his retail dispensary, which will be conveniently located on the site of his existing car dealership, Palisade Auto Sales, on Route 59.
The glass building which he acquired in 2011 for his dealership is in one of the special commercial zones that the village set up for retail cannabis dispensaries after it opted into the program.
Marks, who was born and brought up in Spring Valley and who raised his own family in New City, said he’s in the process of working with an architect to turn one of his showrooms into a retail dispensary.
“We’ve been having meetings with the building inspector” and hope to get all the details squared away “relatively soon,” he said.
The Village of Nyack, an historic suburb of New York City on the west bank of the Hudson River, is one of just a handful of municipalities in Rockland County that have opted into the recreational dispensary program.
Nyack Mayor Don Hammond said the village was “excited” about Marks’ new business and the “opportunities created” for “those negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.”
Marks’ personal experience with that war landed him in jail in 1997 and turned his life upside down as he had to forfeit many of his valuable possessions, including some vintage vehicles.
But he never threw in the towel and he returned to trading used cars — opening his own car business — after his incarceration and while still on probation.
“I love the car business,” he said, “but it’s changed drastically” in the face of rising interest rates and intermittent supply chain problems.
So “I’m going to lighten up on the car business and do something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “It’s really cool that I had something else to take its place.”
The Office of Rockland County Supervisor Ed Day declined comment on the advent of retail cannabis shops.