There won’t be a lounge where friends can kick back and fire up a joint in the Village of Bloomingburg anytime soon.

The Bloomingburg Board of Trustees made sure of that Monday night, voting unanimously to adopt the first new law of 2021, which prohibits the establishment of lounges devoted to the consumption of cannabis products. The same law outlaws the sale of cannabis products in the village.

Bloomingburg joins the City of Middletown and the Town of Crawford among local jurisdictions taking a pass on New York State’ legalization of the sale of cannabis. The municipalities cited a section of the new state law that allows local governments to request that the state’s Cannabis Control Board prohibit the licensing of the establishments in their jurisdictions.

However, by doing so before the end of the year, Bloomingburg retains the right to overturn its bans at a later date, Mayor Russell Wood Jr. said. Legal sales are expected to begin sometime in 2022, and if the village had not acted by December 31, it would have forfeited its right to ban sales and lounges. The village cannot ban adults from using cannabis products where it is allowed — that is generally anyplace tobacco is allowed — nor from growing a few marijuana plants for personal use.

The board voted after no one spoke for or against the law during a public hearing. After the board closed the hearing, and prior the vote, Trustee Samuel Weingarten summed up the village’s position, saying, “We don’t need that here.”

Legal Help For ZBA

The trustees went along with a request by the Zoning Board of Appeals to hire a new legal team to advise it at a time of increased development in the village. Sive, Paget & Riesel, PC, of New York City, will take over from Alex Smith, of Middletown, who will continue to serve as the attorney for the trustees. Wood said he has spoken with Steven Barshov, a principal with the law firm, and was satisfied that his team would be a good fit for the village.

Wood said the firm’s fee schedule was $450 per hour for an attorney and $375 for staff work. The majority of the fees are covered by developers and others who have applications before the ZBA, which also functions as the village’s planning board. Smith’s fee was $150 per hour. Previously, Wood has said that developers can easily absorb the higher fees, but it could be burdensome for homeowners or small-business owners with plans before the board.

Israel Fleischman, chairman of the ZBA, said a larger legal team was needed to handle the influx of new development projects. Sive, Paget & Riesel specializes in environmental, zoning, land use and municipal law. Fleischman said the same reasoning was behind the decision to hire a new ZBA clerk. Gitty Rosenberger of Bloomingburg will take over from Alyssa Freeman, who has served since January 2020. Freeman will continue as village clerk and village justice court clerk.

Three Lots Moved To NBD

The trustees approved the shifting of three properties from R1, a residential zone permitting single-family homes, to the Neighborhood Business District, which permits multifamily housing and commercial development. Developers had requested two of the zoning shifts — at No. 24 and No. 32 Old Roosa Gap — more than a year ago. The third request, for 33 Winterton Road, was made in July. All of the lots abut property already zoned NBD. No one spoke at the public hearings regarding the changes.

The village has been working on a revision to its zoning law since before the COVID-19 pandemic upended operations. The goal is to permit multifamily housing without the density permitted in the NBD or the opportunity for commercial development. Old Roosa Gap Road, for example, is lined with residences. A grocery store or gas station would be out of character in the neighborhood. At one point, the village put a three-month moratorium on piecemeal zoning shifts in anticipation of the new rules. But Monday night Wood said he didn’t know when the new zoning laws would be in place and that it was unfair to make property owners wait any longer.

The village is undergoing rapid growth and the demand for housing units is rising. New census figures revealed Bloomingburg’s population had jumped to 1,032 in 2020, up 145 percent from 420 in 2010.

School To Expand

In other business, the trustees voted to waive village fees associated with the expansion of Learning Tree’s private elementary school on Main Street. Such courtesies are routinely granted for such projects as schools, firehouse and the like.

The trustees also voted to continue meeting on the second Monday of each month. Meetings had been scheduled for the second Thursday of each month. October’s meeting, however, will be held on the third Monday because the second Monday, October 11, is Columbus Day.