The Council for the City of Corning, New York held its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.
at Council Chambers, Civic Center Plaza, Corning, New York.
All Councilmembers attended the meeting. Counting City of Corning employees,
twenty-three members of the public were in the audience.
New Business – Cannabis Retail Sales
By a vote of 8-1 (Councilmember ReSue voting nay) the Council set a public
hearing on proposed Local Law #8 of 2023 regarding adult-use cannabis retail
dispensaries. The Public hearing will be at 6:15 p.m. in City Council Chambers,
Civic Center Plaza, Corning, New York.
Before the vote, Councilmember Resue thanked the City Attorney for writing the
proposed local law so that it comports with rules and regulations promulgated by
the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). Councilmember ReSue announced,
though, that he will not vote to advance any measure that moves the City toward
allowing the sale of cannabis. OCM’s regulations are not one size fits all, he feels,
and they do not, in his view, address important matters of time, place and manner
of sale.
Deputy Mayor Hunt said that the proposed law deserves a hearing. She agreed
with Councilmember ReSue that some sites in the City are inappropriate for adult
use cannabis retail dispensaries and that the City should push back, demanding
better regulation and enforcement from OCM.
For background:
On December 6, 2021, on a divided vote, the City Council allowed adult-use retail
cannabis dispensaries within the city limits of Corning.
On May 1, 2023, The City Council adopted Local Law #6 of 2023 adding to and
revising Chapter 91 of the City Code. At the May 1, 2023, meeting it was
acknowledged that the local law was produced in haste, but in necessary and
understandable haste, because there was then an application for a dispensary
before the City’s Planning Commission. Without guidance provided by a local law
for the regulation of cannabis-related activities, the Planning Commission would
have had no choice but to approve the application, even knowing that the City
intended to promulgate reasonable and non-discriminatory rules pertaining to such
businesses. In May of 2023, Mayor Boland stated, in his opinion as chair of the
Council’s Code Committee, that Local Law #6 of 2023 should be considered only a
beginning point which needs further discernment and refinement, particularly in
view of an uneven roll-out of state rules and regulations which would otherwise
guide the formulation of local laws.
Since May of 2023, changes to Part 119 of the New York State Code of Rules and
Regulations were finalized which provide guidance to cities seeking to enact local
laws that, among other things, may affect the time, place, and manner of locating
and approving operation of dispensaries within its jurisdiction. After finalization, the
Council’s Code Committee met promptly and made its recommendations to the City
Council, which is in the form of proposed Local Law #8 of 2023.
Local Law #8, if adopted, will amend portions of Chapter 91 of the City Code. In
part, it will provide that no dispensary shall be located (as measured in a straight
line from the center of the nearest entrance of the dispensary):
On the same road and within 200 feet of the nearest entrance of a building occupied exclusively as a house of worship; nor
On the same road and within 500 feet of the nearest entrance of a building occupied exclusively as a school; nor
On the same road and within 500 feet of the nearest entrance of the nearest building occupied exclusively as a public youth facility (the law provides clarification if there is no entrance, or no building, but only equipment reasonably expected to be used by children seventeen years of age or younger); nor
Within a 500-foot radius of the nearest entrance of another cannabis dispensary or microbusiness.
The complete proposed Public Law #8 of 2023, is attached:
New Business – Surplus Lands
For background:
On August 7, 2023, the Council approved Mayor Boland’s appointment of
Councilmembers Clark, Telehany and Coccho as members of the Surplus Land
Disposition Committee to deal with an undetermined number of parcels of City land
that are currently unused and may be surplus to the needs of the City. The
Committee was charged with making a recommendation about which currently
unused parcels the City should keep and about which parcels it should dispose of.
City staff first reviewed all parcels and determined that fifteen parcels have no
foreseeable use to the City. The Committee also reviewed all parcels and
recommends that the City Manager begin the process of disposing of fifteen of
them.
The legal status of each piece of property to be disposed of will be researched by
the City Attorney to determine what needs to be done to achieve the desired ends.
Regardless, there will be consultation with adjoining neighbors. Each time a
particular parcel’s review is finished, and the most proper disposition arrived at, it
will come back to the City Council for consideration. If approved by the Council, the
City Manager will be in charge of assuring disposition in the manner intended. All
this will take some time, possibly 24 months to complete every parcel.
Thereafter the Council, by a vote of 8-0 (with Councilmember Telehany abstaining
because one of the properties adjoins her home) agreed to begin the disposition
process for the following parcels:
There are two additional parcels that the Committee decided to retain for now. One
may be able to be used for beautification of a City entrance. Another is the old
railroad station land partially owned by a railroad and partially by the City.
Potential uses for this parcel need more thought and may be considered as a part of
the City’s new comprehensive plan.
New Business - The Council Unanimously:
Approved the appointment of Joseph R. Pavlik as alternate to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a term ending December 31, 2027.
Authorized the transfer of $144,300 from the Reserve Fund to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Capital Account for the Trickling Filter Dome.
Authorized transfer of $5,500 from the Contingency Fund to Animal Control for removal of skunks.
Authorized the City Manager to accept a grant from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee for child passenger safety in the amount of $1,500.
Authorized the City to enter into an easement with Zaharo Zoe Emerson for improvements to a building at 12 West Market Street which will encroach onto city property adjacent to Burmese Lane. Zaharo Zoe Emerson will be responsible for all costs to the City of the negotiation and implementation of the easement.
As an emergency matter, outside of the regular agenda, the Council confirmed the appointment of Kyle M. Wieder as the City’s Finance Director.
Visitor’s Comments
A team leader for New York Citizens Audit and a resident of the City of Corning both
requested that the Council adopt a “Resolution for an Audit of New York’s 2022
General Election” claiming that New York elections massively violate state and
federal law.
Hilda Lando, Steuben County Legislator representing the City of Corning reported
that:
1188 early votes have been cast in Steuben County for this year’s election. 295 are from the City of Corning.
New voting machines are being purchased at a cost of nearly one million dollars and will be ready for use in the 2024 election cycle.
The County Budget will increase the tax rate by 1%. Expenses went up nearly 10% but income increased more than 8%. The difference will be covered by the tax rate increase.
The first Comprehensive Plan for Steuben Cunty will be finalized in December, it is hoped. A presentation of the plan to the County Legislature will follow in January 2024.
Various entities will receive a portion of available opioid funds. She described generally how the funds will be used to address the opioid problem in Steuben County.
A resident complained about illegal drug use in his neighborhood which, he feels,
makes the environment unsafe for his eleven-year-old daughter. He asks the
Council to address this since complaints to his landlord and to the City Police have
not been effective, he feels. The same resident asks that City Hall be lit with the colors of the Israeli flag, to show solidarity with the State of Israel.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
NOTES
The writer of this report has presented items in an order different than that in which they occurred at the meeting.
The writer has, except as specifically noted, amended, or eliminated comments and attribution for them. Unless quotation marks are used, the comments reported are not verbatim.
For brevity, the writer has not included all items on the agenda of the meeting.
Some material has been added by the writer for context or clarity and where it is extensive, is labeled “Background.”.
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