When New York regulators announced plans to double recreational marijuana retail licenses to 300 for social equity applicants, local cannabis operators and other industry advocates applauded the news.
But behind the scenes, concerns were mounting over the challenge of finding affordable cannabis real estate across large parts of the state because of zoning and commercial restrictions.
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About half of New York’s 1,520 municipalities have opted out of adult-use retail, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy think tank based in Albany.
Densely populated Long Island, just east of New York City, is a prime example.
The license expansion implemented by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has exacerbated a mad scramble to find zoned properties in Nassau and Suffolk counties, which together are generally referred to as Long Island.
“The opt-out issue is really more prevalent in Long Island as opposed to
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