Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, January 25, 2019
Vol. 68, No. 4
HEALTH & WELLNESS
CUOMO AIDS NASSAU W. PARK ESCAPES GOV’S BUDGET KNIFE REASSESSMENT PHASE-IN
PAGES 37-44
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Mineola limits location of pot dispensaries
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D AY O F S E R V I C E
Medical, recreational uses restricted to manufacturing, industrial zone BY J E D HENDRIXSON In anticipation of possible state legalization of marijuana, the Village of Mineola Board of Trustees voted unanimously last Wednesday to place zoning limits on medical and and potential recreational marijuana dispensaries. Mayor Scott Strauss and the trustees assured those who attended the public hearing that the decision was not a moral judgement on the legalization of marijuana, but a pre-emptive measure assuring that there is an appropriate place in the village for marijuanarelated businesses. “We’re not banning it,” Strauss said. “We’re just simply saying if you want to sell it in the Village of Mineola, by all means you’re welcome.” In his State of the State address last Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the establishment of an adult-use cannabis program in the
state, but did not include a timeframe for any legislation. Banning the substance for medical uses would be foolish, Strauss said. “If someone needs medical marijuana because of their condition, whether they’re an adult or a child, they should get it, they should have access to it,” Strauss said. Potential dispensaries will only be allowed to open and operate in the village’s light manufacturing and industrial zone flanking the Long Island Rail Road main line. The code change forbids operation of a dispensary within 500 feet of a school, park or religious building and within 200 feet of a residence. The Town of North Hempstead has passed three local laws to control sales at medical and potential recreational marijuana stores. The first, barring medical dispensaries from operating as retail Continued on Page 66
PHOTO BY TERI WEST
Esther Bloom, 5, decorates cardboard boxes of food at a Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center food packaging event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. See story on page 10.
E.W. ed board eyes scaled back North Side fence plan BY J E D HENDRIXSON
Staff members representing the village Board of Trustees and the East Williston The debate over the poten- school district met on Jan. 10 tial erection of a fence at the to discuss the proposed perimNorth Side School in East Wil- eter safety project, according to a newsletter from Superinliston continued this month.
tendent Elaine Kanas. East Williston Mayor David Tanner said several items were discussed at the meeting and that one of the remaining concerns that the village and Continued on Page 67
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