Posted by Ali Aljaludi.
In late 2023 and early 2024, a proposed adult use cannabis dispensary and lounge at 475 Greenwich Street in Manhattan became the subject of significant community opposition and zoning scrutiny. The building is a mixed use condominium located in Tribeca, with residential units above a limited number of commercial spaces. According to Tribeca Citizen, neighbors organized a petition and appeared before Manhattan Community Board 1 to oppose the application, citing the site’s proximity to a daycare, preschools, Hudson River Park, and other child centered uses. The proposal was required to appear before the Community Board as part of the cannabis licensing and land use review process, which must occur before final determinations are made by state regulators and before any zoning or building approvals can realistically proceed (Tribeca Citizen).
This dispute highlights the continued role of zoning and land use law in shaping development outcomes even after cannabis retail was legalized in New York. While cannabis dispensaries are lawful under state statute, they remain a regulated land use subject to siting requirements, distance buffers, and compatibility analysis. As reported by Cannabis Business Times, New York regulators have struggled with dispensary location guidance, particularly regarding distance requirements from schools and other sensitive uses. In fact, errors in location measurements led to more than one hundred dispensaries statewide being flagged for potential noncompliance. This broader regulatory context underscores that zoning and land use considerations remain decisive factors in determining where cannabis businesses can realistically operate.
The proposed dispensary at 475 Greenwich Street raised these same issues at the local level. Because the building is a mixed use condominium, zoning analysis extended beyond whether retail use was generally permitted. The application first required review by the local Community Board, which serves as an advisory but critical gatekeeping body in the land use process. While Community Boards do not issue zoning approvals or licenses, their recommendations are considered by state regulators and often influence whether an application advances to zoning, building, and licensing stages. In this case, the Community Board review functioned as the initial forum where land use compatibility, infrastructure feasibility, and public safety concerns were evaluated.
I attended the Community Board hearing in February 2024 in my professional capacity as a representative of Taube Management Realty and on behalf of the 475 Greenwich Street Condominium. My role was to present building specific and zoning related concerns regarding the feasibility of the proposed cannabis dispensary and lounge within the existing structure. My testimony focused on the fact that the existing HVAC infrastructure serving the commercial unit was never designed to support a cannabis operation, particularly one involving on site consumption. Cannabis uses require significant odor and smoke mitigation through dedicated exhaust systems that must vent outside the building in a compliant manner.
I explained that upgrading the HVAC system to meet these requirements would require extensive structural modifications and extraordinary cost. More importantly, even if such upgrades were attempted, there was no viable location to discharge exhaust air at a safe and compliant distance from a nearby daycare and from areas where children regularly enter and exit the building. This created a direct conflict between building code requirements, cannabis operational standards, and land use compatibility rules. These were not subjective concerns about neighborhood character, but objective constraints tied to infrastructure, safety, and zoning feasibility. When the proposed tenant, their attorney, and their investors were unable to present a reasonable technical solution or counterargument, the Community Board effectively concluded that the proposal could not move forward.
This case demonstrates how zoning operates as more than a checklist of permitted uses. Zoning and land use law require that a proposed development be realistically capable of operating in a way that does not undermine surrounding uses or create unavoidable conflicts. Even though cannabis retail is legal in New York, that legality does not override building limitations, proximity to sensitive uses, or the realities of mixed use development. The 475 Greenwich Street proposal illustrates how zoning, infrastructure, and regulatory compliance intersect to act as a gatekeeper for development, particularly in dense urban environments like Manhattan.
Ultimately, this situation reflects the tension between state level legalization policies and neighborhood scale land use control. Community Boards, while advisory, play a critical procedural role by identifying zoning and feasibility issues before applications proceed further into the regulatory process. In this instance, zoning compatibility, HVAC limitations, and proximity to a daycare combined to render the proposed cannabis use impractical. This confirms that zoning law continues to shape real estate development outcomes even after a use becomes legal under state law.
Ali is a graduate student at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.
Works Cited
Tribeca Citizen. “Fighting a Legal Cannabis Shop for Greenwich and Watts.” Tribeca Citizen, 30 Jan. 2024, https://tribecacitizen.com/2024/01/30/fighting-a-legal-cannabis-shop-for-greenwich-and-watts/ Links to an external site..
Cannabis Business Times. “New York Cannabis Regulators Messed Up Dispensary Location Guidance, 152 Stores Impacted.” Cannabis Business Times, 29 July 2025, https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/new-york/news/15751742/new-york-cannabis-regulators-messed-up-dispensary-location-guidance-152-stores-impacted Links to an external site.