Bronx Community Board 7 voted this week not to recommend a new cannabis dispensary on Jerome Avenue, with the location joining a string of at least 25 others across the borough that have been trashed by community boards since the state opened its general cannabis application period last October.
The dispensary in question, NutraLeaf LLC, applied to set up shop at an old gastroenterology and endoscopy clinic at 3584 Jerome Ave. in Norwood near the Woodlawn stop off the 4 train.
Executive board members presented the Jerome Avenue location to CB7 during the body’s full meeting on Jan. 23, but it was to much of the board members’ dismay — mostly because the location is in the same building as Arms Acres, an outpatient substance abuse treatment center with the same 3584 Jerome Ave. address. Arms Acres has a separate entrance, however, on 213th Street.
Patrice Wallace-Moore, the CEO of Arms Acres, spoke in opposition to the proposed location, stating that she’s “greatly concerned” about a cannabis dispensary sharing a wall with a treatment center — both on behalf of the adults the center services, but also the children who participate in programming.
“People who come to our program have often fought hard and long to recover from the disease of addiction — most are still fighting, as the battle is one they fight every day,” Wallace-Moore said. “We ask that you do the right thing. We ask that you consider the hard work of our patients and staff and the great risk of the proximity of this dispensary to our program.”
In a prior CB7 Health and Human Services Committee meeting and public hearing on Jan. 16, community members raised some of the same concerns about the proposed location — as well as fears about the prevalence of fentanyl-laced substances and the applicant’s business experience and ability to adhere to local zoning requirements, according to the motion notes. Board members also noted that the location along…
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