Islip Town weighs allowing cannabis sales, repealing prior opt-out law
The Islip Town Board will consider allowing cannabis retail sales at a public hearing next month, nearly four years after the board voted to ban the sale of marijuana products within the town’s borders.
Four Islip Town Board members — three Republicans and one Democrat — voted on Tuesday to hold a public hearing to consider a repeal of its 2021 decision to opt out of pot sales. The vote on the public hearing was 4-1, with Republican Supervisor Angie Carpenter opposed. The hearing is set for April 8.
When New York State legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in 2021, the law gave municipalities the ability to “opt into” cannabis sales. Islip officials said at the time they were concerned that if they opted in, there was no legal mechanism for turning back.
Councilman John Lorenzo, a Republican who first took office in 2023, is spearheading the effort to allow cannabis dispensaries in Islip. He says the town is missing out on millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue.
Brookhaven, Babylon, Riverhead and Southampton have all allowed dispensaries within their borders. State law allows local governments to keep 4% of the total tax revenue — 1% for the county and the other 3% for the municipality where the dispensary is sited. That split in Babylon’s dispensary revenue generated about $2.6 million for the town and more than $871,000 for Suffolk County in 2024 alone, Newsday has reported, according to data from the Suffolk County Comptroller’s Office.
“Any revenue is good for the Town of Islip. Our job is to make sure that our people are safe and our taxes are low,” Lorenzo said in an interview with Newsday. “We’re pretty much getting surrounded by stores opening-up outside the Town of Islip … We’re losing out on revenue and we shouldn’t be.”
In a statement to Newsday, Carpenter said the decision to opt into pot sales is irreversible.
“A decision to opt in would be irrevocable and would bind future town boards, because once you opt in, you can never opt out,” Carpenter told Newsday in an emailed statement. “Even though the thought of the additional revenue is tempting, I personally don’t feel we should jeopardize the health and welfare of our youth.”
Lorenzo said the policy must have “guardrails,” such as the restriction that pot shops are clustered in “industrial areas” rather than on “Main Street,” meaning popular downtown corridors.
At least two other Town Board members said they are open to repealing the opt-out law.
“We opted to have a public hearing, and we’ll listen to the public and vote. [But] from my perspective, it’s not going away,” McElwee said in an interview. “New York State has legalized it, and it’s in our backyard. We would rather have it done legally and have some say in it … versus having these illegal stores popping up all over.”
Guadron, the only Democrat on the board, said he sees legalization and regulation as a necessary step.
“There are so many clandestine stores — nobody really knows what’s in those products,” Guadron said in an interview. It’s essential, he said, to make sure that cannabis products are “regulated under a set of protocols and policies that would protect the consumer’s health and safety.”
Jim O’Connor, another Republican board member, also voted in favor of holding the public hearing. He said he’s undecided and willing to keep an “open mind” about the proposition.
O’Connor said the town must run a cost-benefit analysis. “It is a heck of a lot of money,” O’Connor said in an interview. “We’ll wait to see who shows up to speak about why we shouldn’t do this, and we’ll balance that against the reasons why we would do it — which is primarily revenue.”
Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, whose town was the first to allow recreational cannabis sales on Long Island, said his community has had “zero problems” with the stores.
“There have been zero problems with any of the stores that have opened …” Schaffer told Newsday in an interview. In Islip, he said, allowing recreational cannabis sales could “benefit the town and its operations.”
The Islip Town Board will consider allowing cannabis retail sales at a public hearing next month, nearly four years after the board voted to ban the sale of marijuana products within the town’s borders.
Four Islip Town Board members — three Republicans and one Democrat — voted on Tuesday to hold a public hearing to consider a repeal of its 2021 decision to opt out of pot sales. The vote on the public hearing was 4-1, with Republican Supervisor Angie Carpenter opposed. The hearing is set for April 8.
When New York State legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in 2021, the law gave municipalities the ability to “opt into” cannabis sales. Islip officials said at the time they were concerned that if they opted in, there was no legal mechanism for turning back.
Councilman John Lorenzo, a Republican who first took office in 2023, is spearheading the effort to allow cannabis dispensaries in Islip. He says the town is missing out on millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue.
Brookhaven, Babylon, Riverhead and Southampton have all allowed dispensaries within their borders. State law allows local governments to keep 4% of the total tax revenue — 1% for the county and the other 3% for the municipality where the dispensary is sited. That split in Babylon’s dispensary revenue generated about $2.6 million for the town and more than $871,000 for Suffolk County in 2024 alone, Newsday has reported, according to data from the Suffolk County Comptroller’s Office.
“Any revenue is good for the Town of Islip. Our job is to make sure that our people are safe and our taxes are low,” Lorenzo said in an interview with Newsday. “We’re pretty much getting surrounded by stores opening-up outside the Town of Islip … We’re losing out on revenue and we shouldn’t be.”
In a statement to Newsday, Carpenter said the decision to opt into pot sales is irreversible.
“A decision to opt in would be irrevocable and would bind future town boards, because once you opt in, you can never opt out,” Carpenter told Newsday in an emailed statement. “Even though the thought of the additional revenue is tempting, I personally don’t feel we should jeopardize the health and welfare of our youth.”
Guardrails eyed
Lorenzo said the policy must have “guardrails,” such as the restriction that pot shops are clustered in “industrial areas” rather than on “Main Street,” meaning popular downtown corridors.
At least two other Town Board members said they are open to repealing the opt-out law.
“We opted to have a public hearing, and we’ll listen to the public and vote. [But] from my perspective, it’s not going away,” McElwee said in an interview. “New York State has legalized it, and it’s in our backyard. We would rather have it done legally and have some say in it … versus having these illegal stores popping up all over.”
Guadron, the only Democrat on the board, said he sees legalization and regulation as a necessary step.
“There are so many clandestine stores — nobody really knows what’s in those products,” Guadron said in an interview. It’s essential, he said, to make sure that cannabis products are “regulated under a set of protocols and policies that would protect the consumer’s health and safety.”
Jim O’Connor, another Republican board member, also voted in favor of holding the public hearing. He said he’s undecided and willing to keep an “open mind” about the proposition.
O’Connor said the town must run a cost-benefit analysis. “It is a heck of a lot of money,” O’Connor said in an interview. “We’ll wait to see who shows up to speak about why we shouldn’t do this, and we’ll balance that against the reasons why we would do it — which is primarily revenue.”
Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, whose town was the first to allow recreational cannabis sales on Long Island, said his community has had “zero problems” with the stores.
“There have been zero problems with any of the stores that have opened …” Schaffer told Newsday in an interview. In Islip, he said, allowing recreational cannabis sales could “benefit the town and its operations.”
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