Cannabis

A retail cannabis business Riverhead Town officials have so far prevented from opening in a former bank building on Ostrander Avenue is asking a court to exempt the property from the town’s restrictive marijuana zoning code.

The Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals last night denied a variance to allow a retail cannabis dispensary at a former bank site on Ostrander Avenue.

A decision on whether to allow a retail cannabis shop to open in a former bank building on Ostrander Avenue was postponed until at least Feb. 13.

A cannabis shop proposed for a vacant former bank branch on Ostrander Avenue got pushback at town zoning board public hearing Thursday. The use needs variances because the site is outside the Rt. 58 commercial corridor for cannabis and is too close to residential uses.

Strain Stars, a 14,000-square-foot cannabis dispensary, touted by its owners as a “superstore” and the largest in the state, celebrated its grand opening in Riverhead yesterday.

Beleaf Calverton had a “soft opening” on Nov. 23 and will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday.

The grand opening of Strain Stars has been postponed to a date in early December, a company spokesperson said in an email late Wednesday afternoon.

Riverhead Town’s first recreational marijuana dispensaries hope to open this fall. Strain Stars will open on the corner of Route 58 and Kroemer Avenue, while Beleaf is setting up shop in the Calverton Commons on Middle Country Road.

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Business owners looking to site recreational marijuana shops in Riverhead Town may look to legally challenge the town’s zoning ordinance, after a Town Board majority refused their pleas to relax the law to meet state guidelines.