The Marbletown Town Board last week gave the green light to cannabis dispensaries.

Local Law No. 3 of 2024, unanimously adopted by the board at its June 11 meeting, amends Chapter 200 of the Town Code to allows adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries to open in the town in “accordance with the New York State Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.”

The new local law also modifies the town zoning in regard to approvals for “commercial telecommunications service facilities” – cell towers – by transferring the power to issue special use permits for those from the town Zoning Board of Appeals to the Planning Board.

“Cannabis Retail Dispensaries” are defined by the law as any “retail facility that sells at retail any cannabis product, the sale of which a license is required for an adult use cannabis dispensary under the provisions of [MRTA].”

Cannabis dispensaries will, however, be restricted to only the B-1 and B-2 districts. There is a note attached to permits for the B-2 district, which limits dispensaries to buildings with direct access to Route 213 in the hamlet of High Falls. Special use permits are required for both the B-1 and B-2 districts. They are restricted to operating hours between 8 a.m. and midnight. The law also mandates adherence to the town’s design standards and guidelines for the business districts.

Cannabis dispensaries are not allowed to have “drive-through” service. They are not allowed to have outside displays or visible products and promotional materials from outside their premises, other than two signs.

There are also distancing rules. Cannabis dispensaries must be at least 500 feet apart, and not within 200 feet of the entrance of a house of worship or on the same road and within 500 feet of a school, or any structure exclusively used as a public youth facility.

The rules regarding cannabis shops are pretty simple compared to the regulations surrounding Commercial Telecommunications Service Facilities (CTS). There are almost 10 pages of them and obviously anyone who has property sufficiently large and wooded and wishes to engage with a CTS provider to erect a cell tower will need to be thoroughly versed in them all.

The basic rule is stated early on – the town seeks to “minimize the total number and height of facilities throughout the community while providing adequate coverage for the town.” As Supervisor Rich Parete noted at a previous board meeting, the demand for coverage and bandwidth data flow is constantly increasing as we move further into the digital age.

To further those ends the new rules establish three classes of CTS facilities.

1. Class A, those that are attached to already existing tall structures, including church steeples, water towers, etc., so that the facility is indistinguishable from the structure itself.

2. Class B, again attached to tall existing structures, including utility poles or co-located on already existing CTS towers. Also included in this class are new CTS facilities disguised as silos, flagpoles, steeples, etc.

3. Class C facilities will be considered as Type 1 actions under SEQR and will need to be fully reviewed by the planning board. These will be essentially, any new commercial cell tower. All Class B and Class C towers will require a special use permit from the planning board for both being erected and moved or altered. While Class A and B facilities are to be allowed in any zoned district, Class C CTS are only allowed in the A-3 and A-4 zoning districts.

The “fall zone” set back is now to be applied, changing the previous rules in Marbletown. This means that the minimum distance from the base of any CTS to any property line, dwelling, business or institution, or any public recreation area will be the height of the CTS, thus ensuring that should it fall down, it will only strike the ground on the property it was erected on. In addition, no facility will be located within 1,500 feet of a district or structure listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places.

Throughout the regulations, the desire to minimize the visibility of CTS facilities is repeated many times. And to have a Class C tower approved, the applicant must show that adequate service cannot be provided by use of a Class A or B facility instead.

In regard to Class C towers, these appear to be the crucial rules: Such facilities shall not be sited in open fields but restricted to wooded areas. The maximum height will be no more than 15 feet above the average tree height, or 10 feet above the height of the tallest tree within a 50-foot radius of the tower.

No facility will be silhouetted against the sky or be seen from any viewpoint more than 1,000 feet from the base of the tower.

All facilities shall have a neutral, earth tone or similar painted finish to minimize visual impact. Moreover, a visual impact assessment will be an important part of any application’s review by the planning board. This means that such things as “balloon tests” may be required by the board.

Of course, existing vegetation will be preserved and plantings for screening purposes may be required as well.

Access to the tower is required for maintenance and emergency purposes. The planning board shall retain the right to impose “reasonable conditions” including that the special use permit may require periodic renewal.

The public hearing on the proposed new local law produced no comment. The board voted to approve.