ELDRED, NY — A handful of Highland businesses encountered mixed fortunes at a Wednesday, July 26 meeting of the Town of Highland planning board. 

A wine shop proposed by Eve Fisher and Andrew McGrath won approval, after several months of discussion. Conversations continued about two other businesses, the Barryville Oasis and an operation to grow marijuana. 

The planning board denied one application during the meeting, a request from the farmer Mark Rossi to have more animals on his property than the town’s code allows. 

Wine shop approved

Eve Fisher and Andrew McGrath proposed to open a wine shop in Barryville, in a project that first went before the planning board in April. 

Follow-up meetings saw the board request additional information and did not commit to approving the project, an extensive process that Fisher and McGrath said had negative impacts on their business, which could not open in the interim. 

The board’s consultant, Susan Roth of the Laberge Group, told the applicants at the June meeting they needed proof that the building was occupied in the last two years. Without that proof, the building fell afoul of a  zoning setback, governing a building’s setback from the road. With that proof, the property would be grandfathered in. 

Between meetings, Fisher and McGrath provided that proof in spades, Roth told the planning board on July 26. 

The board approved the project. 

Growth, not retail

Shane Pearson and Courtney Crangi proposed an all-in-one cannabis business during a March meeting of the planning board. 

At the time, the two proposed an all-in-one cannabis business: the operation would cultivate, grow and process cannabis, and sell it in an on-site retail location. 

The project in that form faced twin legal hurdles. Highland’s local cannabis law prohibited retail cannabis sites within 100 feet of residential property; according to a Laberge report, the property sits directly next to a single-family home and an apartment complex. On the state level, the New York cannabis regulations continue to change, and the latest regulations prohibit retail spaces and growth spaces from co-existing. 

The new version of the project only involves indoor cannabis growth. The applicants may decide to do retail at a separate location—the law allows them to establish a retail space within 25 miles of the growth space—but they’re undecided. 

Because the project no longer involves retail cannabis, the town’s cannabis law no longer applies, and there are no longer any barriers to the project going forward. The planning board scheduled a public hearing for the next meeting of the planning board on August 23 at 6 p.m. 

Barryville Oasis

John Pizzolato appeared before the planning board to discuss the status of the Barryville Oasis. 

Town of Highland code enforcement placed multiple violations upon the Oasis property earlier in the year, as reported by the River Reporter. Meetings between the Oasis’ legal representation, the town’s legal representation and code enforcement company FUSCO ended with most of the violations being found inaccurate, according to Pizzolato. 

The planning board is still requiring a site-plan review for the business. 

Surveyor Michael Packer questioned the building’s capacity, listed as 42 patrons. The applicant has hearsay knowledge of the septic tank, but no designs, Packer said. 

The planning board had a list of 12 questions from FUSCO for the applicants to answer. The next step for the project involves a public hearing—though, cautioned town attorney Michael Davidoff, the planning board needed to be satisfied with the info it received to move forward. 

Town of Highland attorney Michael Davidoff, left, and planning board alternate members Laura Burrell and Scott Reed listen to a presentation from …

Cows, calves and heifers

The final application of the evening involved a farm full of animals.

Mark Rossi asked for approval to have more animals on his property than the town’s code allows. Rossi told the board that he has, at present, five calves, one cow, one heifer and one newborn; he raises and sells the calves. 

The planning board took some time to determine the code’s exact requirements, with multiple board members expressing confusion and stating that they weren’t farmers. The board ultimately determined that the number of animals exceeded the code, and that it would not grant Rossi an exemption. 

Rossi expressed that the code was wrong when it came to farming, and that he would keep farming as he had been. 

Planning board chair Norm Sutherland said that the board would uphold the town’s code. 

Click here for a write-up of the Camp FIMFO discussion from the Wednesday, July 26 meeting of the Highland planning board.