Nassau County’s first medical marijuana dispensary to open before end of month

Joe Nikic

Nassau County’s first medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open by the end of this month in a temporary office space in Lake Success.

Town of North Hempstead spokeswoman Carole Trottere said Tuesday the town’s building department had approved Staten Island-based Bloomfield Industries’ application to occupy a vacant medical office in suite N1 at 2001 Marcus Ave.

Town Planning Commissioner Michael Levine said the company plans to use suite N1 temporarily until they receive approval for a larger suite in the same building, according to a report in Newsday.

“They’re really not doing much in the way of physical work,” Levine said. “I think they’re moving in essentially as is and configuring the other space for how they want it to operate in the long term.”

Trottere said the applicants are allowed to apply for multiple permits at once and occupy a temporary space.

A Bloomfield official who asked not to be identified said while the dispensary will open by the end of this month, no specific date has been determined.

Bloomfield’s intial application, which was submitted in November, was to occupy suite W75, a 2,480-square-foot space at 2001 Marcus Ave.

But due to revisions requested in a building department application, Trottere said, the application has been delayed.

In late September, Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and Town Attorney Elizabeth Botwin said they thought the dispensary would be classified as a pharmacy, which is not a permitted use for that site.

But the building department determined otherwise.

“When Bloomfield submitted its actual plans to the building department, the department found that it fell within the description of a doctor’s office and not a retail store,” Bosworth said in a statement. “A medical office conforms with our zoning for that location.”

Bloomfield will join other medical practices, including cardiology group Premier Cardiology Consultants and the Long Island IVF fertility clinic in the office complex, located just over a mile from Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

Another medical office complex and a division of Cohen Children’s Medical Center are adjacent to the property.

Bloomfield’s state health department application for the dispensary, to be called the Lake Success Patient Resource Center, says it will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Bloomfield, one of five companies approved to open dispensaries under the 2014 Compassionate Care Act, a state law legalizing medical marijuana as of Jan. 5, chose Lake Success because of it’s accessibility to patients, the spokesman said.

Under the law, New York residents with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis can register with the state health department for a medical marijuana prescription.

The Bloomfield spokesman noted the Lake Success facility’s proximity to “major medical facilities” that treat those diseases.

The company has a manufacturing center in Long Island City and opened dispensaries in Syracuse and Williamsville on Jan. 7.

It also plans to open a facility in Manhattan.

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