All New York cannabis shop licenses on hold — again

A State Supreme Court judge has decided — once again — that no yet-to-open retail pot shops may proceed because state regulators failed to obey the court's instructions in identifying those that were all but ready to go. 

State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant noted that the state didn't abide by instructions to file a list of licensees that "met all requirements for licensing, including but not limited to site plan approval" before the court case began. 

The state Office of Cannabis Management submitted "contradictory and confusing assertions" along with a list, "which, by their own admission, includes licensees who are still finalizing construction and whose post-selection inspections have not been scheduled or completed," Bryant wrote in an Aug. 28 decision.

" … this Court specifically directs that OCM resubmit its list and that they 'certify, under oath and on an applicant-by-applicant and requirement-by-requirement basis … that each of the [included] applicants have satisfied each licensing requirement,' " Bryant wrote. He will then weigh whether to exempt any retailers from an injunction that has barred the state from processing licenses since Aug. 7.  Retailers get provisional licenses, which allow them to find locations that must be vetted and approved before getting final licenses. 

"We are reviewing the recent Court decision and will be in touch with all licensees to discuss the path forward," OCM spokesperson Trivette Knowles said in a statement.

Happy Days Dispensary, which plans to open along Route 109 in the Town of Babylon, was among 30 businesses on OCM's list, court filings show. The entrepreneur behind the firm, Paul Lepore, said he was waiting to hear about next steps.

"Being that we already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and are locked into contracts totaling over $2 million, we are disheartened by the judge's decision," Lepore said. 

The state's "conditional" or initial retail licensing program has been in limbo since early August, when four veterans, including Carmine Fiore of Levittown challenged it. The four plaintiffs argued that regulators were undercutting veterans disabled during their military service and other social equity groups granted licensing priority in state law.

The conditional retail licenses were only available to business owners who had — or were related to someone who had — a marijuana conviction. Regulators said this group was granted extra licensing priority in the measure that legalized recreational marijuana.

By Sarina Trangle

sarina.trangle@newsday.comSarinaTrangle

Sarina Trangle covers affordability and cost of living issues and other business topics. She previously worked as an editor and reporter at amNewYork.