N.Y. Cannabis Law § 72: Adult-use retail dispensary license

§ 72. Adult-use retail dispensary license. 1. A retail dispensary

license shall authorize the acquisition, possession, sale and delivery

of cannabis from the licensed premises of the retail dispensary by such

licensee to cannabis consumers.

2. No person may have a direct or indirect financial or controlling

interest in more than three adult-use retail dispensary licenses issued

pursuant to this chapter.

3. No person holding a retail dispensary license may also hold an

adult-use cultivation, processor, microbusiness, cooperative or

distributor license pursuant to this article or be registered as a

registered organization pursuant to article three of this chapter,

except for such organizations licensed pursuant to sections

sixty-eight-a and sixty-eight-b of this article.

4. No retail license shall be granted for any premises, unless the

applicant shall be the owner thereof, or shall be able to demonstrate

possession of the premises within thirty days of final approval of the

license through a lease, management agreement or other agreement giving

the applicant control over the premises, in writing, for a term not less

than the license period.

5. With the exception of delivery or microbusiness licensees, no

premises shall be licensed to sell cannabis products, unless said

premises shall be located in a store, the principal entrance to which

shall be from the street level and located on a public thoroughfare in

premises which may be occupied, operated or conducted for business,

trade or industry.

6. (a) No premises with a license issued pursuant to this section, or

section sixty-eight-a of this article, or section seventy-three of this

article that allows for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis, shall be

located on the same street and within five hundred feet of a building

containing a school.

(b) No premises with a license issued pursuant to this section, or

section sixty-eight-a of this article, or section seventy-three of this

article that allows for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis, shall be

located on the same street and within two hundred feet of a building

exclusively occupied as a house of worship.

(c) The measurements in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision are

to be taken in straight lines from the center of the nearest entrance of

the premises sought to be licensed to the center of the nearest entrance

of such school or house of worship.

(d) For purposes of this subdivision: (i) The word "entrance" shall

mean: (A) a door of a school regularly used to give ingress to students

of the school; (B) a door of a house of worship regularly used to give

ingress to the general public attending the house of worship; or (C) a

door of the premises sought to be licensed regularly used to give

ingress to customers of such premises.

(ii) A door which has no exterior hardware, or which is used solely as

an emergency or fire exit, or for maintenance or delivery purposes, or

which leads directly to a part of a building not regularly used by

students of the school, the general public attending the house of

worship, or customers of the premises sought to be licensed, is not

deemed an "entrance".

(iii) If the school, house of worship or premises sought to be

licensed is set back from a public thoroughfare, the walkway or stairs

leading to any such door shall be deemed an entrance; and the

measurement shall be taken to the center of the walkway or stairs at the

point where it meets the building line or public thoroughfare.

(e)(i) For purposes of paragraph (b) of this subdivision, a building

occupied as a house of worship does not cease to be "exclusively"

occupied as such by incidental uses that are not of a nature to detract

from the predominant character of the building as a house of worship.

(ii) Such uses include, but are not limited to: (A) the conduct of

legally authorized games of bingo or other games of chance held as a

means of raising funds for the not-for-profit religious organization

which conducts services at the house of worship or for other

not-for-profit organizations or groups; (B) use of the building for

fund-raising performances by or benefitting the not-for-profit religious

organization which conducts services at the house of worship or other

not-for-profit organizations or groups; (C) the use of the building by

other religious organizations or groups for religious services or other

purposes; (D) the conduct of social activities by or for the benefit of

the congregants of the house of worship; (E) the use of the building for

meetings held by organizations or groups providing bereavement

counseling to persons having suffered the loss of a loved one, or

providing advice or support for conditions or diseases including, but

not limited to, alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, cerebral palsy,

Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's disease; (F) the use of the building

for blood drives, health screenings, health information meetings, yoga

classes, exercise classes or other activities intended to promote the

health of the congregants or other persons; and (G) use of the building

by non-congregant members of the community for private social functions.

(iii) The building occupied as a house of worship does not cease to be

"exclusively" occupied as such where the not-for-profit religious

organization occupying the house of worship accepts the payment of funds

to defray costs related to another party's use of the building.

(f) No renewal of a license shall be denied because of the

restrictions in paragraphs (a) or (b) of this subdivision.

(g) When evaluating an application for compliance with this

subdivision, the proximity of the premises sought to be licensed to a

school or house of worship shall be determined based on the date such

applicant submits its location to the office.