Tony Southampton changed its zoning laws to block legal weed shop: lawsuit
Southampton schemed to block a licensed cannabis dispensary from opening in the ritzy beachfront town for more three years by doctoring its local zoning code, a new lawsuit claims.
Brown Budda snagged a license from the state in 2022 and was on its way to becoming Long Island’s first dispensary — but the town government has used local zoning laws to block the store as owners Marquis Hayes and Kim Stetz lose out on millions in potential income, according the suit.
“Southampton is trying to bleed out the application — dragging this process out with costly, piecemeal conditions,” Christian Killoran, the attorney for Brown Budda, told The Post.
A new lawsuit reveals that the town of Southampton planned to block a licensed marijuana shop from opening in the area for more than 3 years. AFP via Getty Images
“Every other licensed store is making $1.6 million a month,” Killoran said based on OCM figures.
“Ours is making zero because Southampton won’t let us open.”
Southampton officials created a bureaucratic maze of special use permits, site-plan reviews and costly add-on requirements with the intent of stopping the dispensary in its tracks, according to the suit, which was filed Wednesday.
Brown Budda’s would-be storefront by the bay remains closed — as the shop misses out on roughly $20 million per year in revenue, according to estimates by the company using figures from the state’s Office of Cannabis Management.
Since being cuffed by the town’s officials, the business has burned through more than $443,000 in rent, $160,000 in overhead and $130,000 in legal and engineering fees as it tries to meet the town’s constantly changing demands, the legal filing said.
The shop has also lost out on a $1.2 million investment after Southampton claimed they still needed zoning approvals, according to the lawsuit.
But the financial woes do not end there, according to the company — roughly $60,000 worth of cannabis inventory has expired while the store sat idle, and its owners continue to pay about $8,000 a month in building and administrative costs with nothing to show for it.
The Long Island town used local zoning laws to prevent Marquis Hayes and Kim Stetz from opening their cannabis dispensary. facebook/Marqhayescatering
The lawsuit argues that the hurdles to opening are part of a scheme by town officials who have openly signaled their resistance to Albany’s cannabis program.
Southampton didn’t opt-out of allowing dispensaries by a 2021 state deadline, but Brown Budda claims officials moved the goal posts after the dispensary set its sights on the area.
“Southampton wants to have its cake and eat it too,” Killoran said.
“It wants the state to govern the industry broadly while micromanaging cannabis locally. The law doesn’t allow that.”
He pointed to a town board meeting last year, where Chairwoman Jacqui Lofaro questioned whether the town could cap the number of dispensaries allowed within its borders and even suggested Southampton could “negotiate with the state” on a limit.
The suit states the store owners lost potential millions, and attorney for Brown Budda, Christian Killoran, told The Post, “Southampton is trying to bleed out the application — dragging this process out with costly, piecemeal conditions.” Helayne Seidman
“We live here. The State does not live here,” Lofaro declared at the meeting last November.
Killoran said those words showed officials’ true intent.
“That is exactly why Albany passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act [in 2021], so local politics couldn’t override state law,” he said.
Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said Thursday he hadn’t yet reviewed the lawsuit.
However, he said that the town planning staff and planning board, with the guidance of attorneys, “have been diligently reviewing each of the applications, holding public hearings as required and granting approvals where appropriate for the respective dispensaries.”
But Killoran said “actions speak louder than words.”
“The state already approved our location for retail, delivery, and onsite consumption through hospitality services, yet Southampton piled on redundant hurdles and even shut down our delivery service that state law allows,” he said.