“We haven’t been big fans of recently proposed building moratoriums, particularly on new smoke/vape shops and new marijuana dispensaries.
Government officials opposed to specific types of businesses they find indesirable often use moratoriums as an elephant gun against a mosquito to stop legitimate businesses from opening up, even if regulated under the community’s existing zoning codes or comprehensive master plans.
Often, there aren’t a flood of new applications in the pipeline to warrant an all-out development ban just to address one or two businesses. Rather than put a halt to all new such development, governments can often regulate it instead by changing the codes to address their concerns or by enforcing existing regulations against businesses that fail to comply with the current rules.”
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Schenectady Daily Gazette 4 November 2023.