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Town of Lowville Passes Law Opting Out of Cannabis
Sales; Residents Can Now Petition for a Permissive Referendum to Put Issue
on November Ballot
Published: June 30, 2021 at 09:15
a.m.
By: Nick Altmire
Lowville, NY- After holding a
public hearing in May, the Town of Lowville Board adopted Local Law #1of
2021 at their June 17 meeting, opting out of allowing cannabis retail
dispensaries and on-site consumption sites as authorized under Cannabis Law
Article 4.
As the first
municipality in Lewis County to take action on the Cannabis Law, Town
officials want residents to know that this Local Law is subject to a permissive
referendum. This means that residents of the town have 45 days from the
date the law was passed to submit a petition to have the issue placed on
the November ballot for a public vote. If a majority of voter’s were to
vote in favor of allowing cannabis retail dispensaries and on-site
consumption in the town, it would overrule the adopted local law.
A petition would
need to be initiated by a town resident and filed with the Town of Lowville
Clerk’s office. The number of signatures collected must equal a minimum of
10 percent of the votes cast for Governor in the town in the last General
Election with the Governor’s race on the ballot. In the town of Lowville,
1,726 votes were cast in the last race for Governor, meaning a minimum of 173
registered voters in the town would need to sign the petition to get the
referendum on the ballot.
Petitions need to
include the name, address and signatures of the registered voters signing
the petition.
Although the Village
of Lowville will also be voting on a Cannabis Law for the village, village
residents are also residents of the Town of Lowville and are therefore allowed
to participate in the petition process for the town as well as the village.
For more
information on the petition process, contact Town of Lowville Clerk Aimee
Murphy at 315-376-8070 ext. 1 or email tolclerk2458@gmail.com.
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