Federal judge upholds New York State law blocking ICE agents from making arrests at state courthouses

A cannabis licensee has sued the Town of Southampton over a recent rezoning, arguing the move prevented its dispensary from opening in a former bank building in Hampton Bays, court filings show. That property is on the north side of 27A just east of the Hampton Bays Carvel. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the town board in July rezoned a stretch of East Montauk Highway, where a developer sought to add a new pot shop. Cannabis sales were allowed in that area until the board approved the rezoning, which bans cannabis sales on that stretch of the highway.

Mottz Only Authentic New York Style and its majority owner, Sean Lustberg, said the Town of Southampton “targeted” the rezoning to block the opening of their cannabis dispensary. Lawyers for the licensee said that for months, town officials had “stalled” approvals for the dispensary before approving the zone change.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the rezoning as well as monetary damages, citing the potential for significant financial losses.

Southampton Town adopted zoning laws in 2023, limiting the siting of non-medical cannabis dispensaries to two of its eight commercial business districts.

The town, according to the lawsuit, relied on an outdated plan and environmental impact study to justify the rezoning.

Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said the lawsuit was “not unexpected.” He noted Mottz had filed a separate lawsuit in September challenging the town’s cannabis zoning law.

“We are confident that the court will recognize that the town board in voting for the zoning amendments acted well within their legislative authority and such action was based on an extensive planning study concerning the Hampton Bays Montauk Highway corridor,” Burke said.

The lawsuit seeks financial damages and projects $18 million annually in losses — including lost revenue, rent payments and other expenses.

Southampton Town has faced a series of legal challenges to its zoning rules from cannabis companies. Last month, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management ruled that Southampton’s cannabis zoning, as well as Riverhead's, were "forbidden" under state law.

The agency had issued advisory opinions calling the towns' limits "unreasonably impractical."

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Even though Southampton Town is poised to turn down $2.93 million in state grant money, Highway Superintendent Charles McArdle told the Noyac Civic Council last week that a proposal to install sidewalks and crosswalks along Noyac Road in the hamlet would proceed as planned and be completed sooner than expected. McArdle, accompanied by Nick Jimenez, the town’s capital projects manager, and Deputy Highway Superintendent Marc Braeger, said Southampton Town’s Highway and Engineering departments had reviewed the state requirements, and “we came up with the theory that we would turn down the grant and do the work ourselves.” The Town Board seems on board with the proposal. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that among other things, McArdle said the state would require 5-foot-wide sidewalks, curbs and drainage that would jack up the price. In addition, the town would have to condemn small amounts of land from 10 property owners under the state plan, which would add to the cost and delay the project. That number has been reduced to four or five people. Along with sidewalks, the project calls for the crosswalks at Trout Pond, Il Cappelletti, Noyack Delicatessen, Cromer’s Market and Long Beach Road. While most of the sidewalks will be on the south side of Noyac Road, they will run along the north side in areas with more right-of-way. Members of the Noyac Civic Council were generally enthusiastic about the update, although some questioned how it would be possible to do the project for so much less than the state budget. The state grant would require the town to contribute about $1.6 million to the project, whereas if the town does the...