Judge orders Strong Strains cannabis dispensary in Brookhaven to temporarily close
Strong Strains had received a state operating license and Brookhaven Town zoning permits, according to state and town officials. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
A state judge has ordered Brookhaven Town's first cannabis dispensary to close temporarily over questions raised by the store's landlords about whether the state-licensed pot shop violates federal law.
Acting State Supreme Court Justice James C. Hudson issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday ordering Strong Strains, located in the Stony Brook Technology Center in East Setauket, to close immediately pending a final decision in the case.
Hudson scheduled an Aug. 22 hearing in Riverhead for Strong Strains and its attorneys to present their arguments in court.
Store owner Surinder Sandhu had refused to close after receiving a cease-and-desist letter on June 9, the day the shop opened, from the office park's property managers, the Stony Brook Technology Association and Ronkonkoma-based Tritec Real Estate.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A state judge issued a temporary injunction Wednesday ordering an East Setauket cannabis dispensary to close.
- The dispensary, Strong Strains, has faced allegations from managers of the corporate park where it is located that the store violates the park's rules barring activities that are prohibited under federal law.
- Strong Strains was the first cannabis shop to open in Brookhaven Town. It opened in June.
The managers later sued Strong Strains in state Supreme Court.
In court papers, the property managers said tenants of the corporate park had voted late last year to reject the cannabis shop, but Sandhu opened the store anyway. The property managers also said the store violates the corporate park's rules that bar activities, such as pot shops, that are prohibited under federal law.
Sandhu did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday. It was not clear from court papers whether Strong Strains has a lawyer.
Sandhu, a retired physician, had said previously he "went through all the proper channels" to open legally, adding, “We have done nothing illegal or anything like that.”
Strong Strains had received a state operating license and Brookhaven Town zoning permits, according to state and town officials.
Judges sometimes issue temporary injunctions while considering legal arguments before deciding a case. Injunctions typically remain in place until a verdict is rendered.
It was not clear Thursday when Hudson will rule in the case.
Brian Egan, a lawyer for the Stony Brook Technology Association and Tritec Real Estate, declined to comment on the injunction.
"As the matter is in active litigation, we prefer to let our legal arguments speak for themselves in court," Egan said in a text message. "At this juncture, we are gratified that the court saw fit to agree with the other business owners in the complex to enforce the [office park's] long established occupancy regulations."
The office park includes 28 buildings housing dozens of research, medical and technology companies on a sprawling 103-acre campus off Route 347 near the Stony Brook University campus.
Strong Strains is Brookhaven Town's only legal recreational pot shop, joining seven other recreational marijuana stores in the towns of Babylon, Riverhead and Southampton.
A planned Medford cannabis shop has state approval and is awaiting town permits.
Brookhaven officials previously said Strong Strains obtained a special use permit from the town's Board of Zoning Appeals. But Egan argued in court papers that Strong Strains violated the corporate park's rules of operations, which prohibit activities that are barred by federal law.
Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said the legal dispute is between the pot shop and the corporate park's managers and is unrelated to town approvals.
“The onus is on the potential operators to not only seek state approval and then subsequent town approval, but to ensure any private property agreements, as in this case, are met," he said in a phone interview. “I do not comment as to this litigation, but will say that the property is zoned correctly.”
Brookhaven restricts pot shops to industrial areas such as corporate parks. Some applicants have complained the maze of zoning rules on Long Island makes it difficult to open stores.
Recreational marijuana sales are prohibited under federal law but allowed with a license under New York State law.
However, Congress has so far declined to fund federal enforcement efforts, allowing states to authorize cannabis shops while lawsuits over their legality are pending.
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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