The City of Glen Cove is looking to prohibit marijuana use in public places and the council discussed the extension of a controversial building permit that was ultimately extended.
According to the proposed law that was discussed at the Tuesday, Nov. 25 meeting, “no person shall smoke or vape any marijuana or cannabis product in any outdoor public place within the jurisdictional limits of the city.”
The proposed law states that violations are civil and will be addressed through community service or a financial penalty.
Tip Henderson, the city’s attorney, said the law would essentially prohibit marijuana usage in public places, including private businesses that open themselves up to public use.
The city’s SAFE Committee had come together and met several times to produce the specific language of the proposal, Henderson said.
Detective Brian Glennon, who is also a member of the Glen Cove City Police Department, said that council was receptive to the proposal when speaking on behalf of the committee at the meeting.
He said many police officers had noticed high levels of public marijuana consumption and he likened the policy to similar policies put in place about drinking alcohol in public.
“Alcohol is intoxicating. Marijuana, in a different way, is also intoxicating,” Glennon said.
No other members spoke during the hearing and the record was left open until the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The legal move against marijuana is not new from the council. The city enacted a zoning law in July 2023 that significantly restricted the locations where new smoke shops could be established within Glen Cove.
The council then voted on the resolution calendar, which included a building permit extension for the Glen Cove Villa. The resolution passed 4-3 with Mayor Pam Panzenbeck being the deciding vote.
Glen Cove Villa LLC. has been in the process of constructing apartments at 135 Glen Cove Ave. since 2021, when they first received a building permit.
Several council members stated that insufficient work has been done at the site to warrant an extension, a similar argument presented in 2024 when the extension was narrowly approved.
A public hearing with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency about the site was held earlier in November.
The site owners were not present for the meeting, but two individuals spoke on behalf of the applicants, answering questions from board members about the progress made over the last year.
One of them said that the extension would allow the applicants to review a SEQR and begin doing multiple reports.
Council Member Danielle Fugazy Scagliola said they had sat there a year ago having the same conversation about whether to approve the extension, facing similar questions about what kind of progress had been made.
“I also want to see something built. I am sick of looking at this hole. I think this whole community is sick of looking at this hole. There’s nothing here that indicates this is the real deal this time,” she said.
Fugazy Scagliola said she hopes there is more communication about the project moving forward as well.
Council Member John Zozzaro shared a similar sentiment when he voted against the resolution.
“I wasn’t presented enough progress to say yes,” he said.
Council Member Marsha Silverman also abstained on the resolution.
Panzenbeck, who was the final vote on the resolution, said she doesn’t want to leave the site the way it is.
“We need to get this project moving forward,” she said.
Panzenbeck also added a resolution to the agenda to accept the donation of a tree to be erected in the city’s downtown as its Christmas tree for the holiday season.
“I do believe it might possibly be the most beautiful tree ever.”
