A swanky cannabis store in Southampton has been playing with fire – and now risks getting burned by a clampdown from local authorities.
Last week, Charlie Fox – which has been likened to a Bergdorf Goodman store for weed – opened its doors in the posh Hamptons enclave and was hit with a cease-and-desist order from town officials shortly after its opening.
Late Tuesday, the town’s board fired back – voting unanimously to file an injunction in New York state court to shut down the upscale pot shop, citing a requirement for a “special permit” to open.
Charlie Fox co-founders James Mallios and Julia Levi vowed to fight the town in court, arguing that their state cannabis license supersedes the town’s authority.
“The town of Southampton isn’t a country club or a co-op board. They can’t keep us out. Their actions are harming a small business,” Mallios told Side Dish on Wednesday.
But in a Wednesday interview with Side Dish, Town Attorney James Burke said that even if the state grants businesses a cannabis license, town approval is still required.
“The state’s license doesn’t supersede the town’s approval,” Burke said. “Every state approval is subject to local approval.”
He added that if the court grants the injunction request — which he expects will be filed Wednesday or Thursday — then the town hopes that Charlie Fox will comply and then the town will “consider our options.”
“If they would voluntarily shut down, we would work with them to help them open legally,” Burke told Side Dish.
Mallios – a prominent New York restaurateur who also owns venues including Amali on East 60th Street in Manhattan and Calissa in Water Mill just east of Southampton – claims that town officials failed to exercise their option to opt out of the state’s cannabis program by a 2021 deadline.
Since then, a new group of town officials have unofficially vowed to keep pot shops out, according to Mallios.
“It is shocking to me the lengths to which this town will go to supersede state law and crush a small business,” he fumed. “They can now say our ‘use’ of the space isn’t suitable or appropriate. How dare they! We have a license and we will fight them in court.”
Not so, according to Burke.
“It’s true that the town didn’t opt out of the state program. But special use permits still need to be granted,” Burke told Side Dish.
The town also claims that Charlie Fox’s certificate of occupancy is for a different use and needs to be refiled and that the planning board needs to issue a special permit.
“There are growing pains for everyone — including the state,” Burke added. “My office is working closely with people at the Office of Cannabis Management to get the town in compliance with state regulations. The town can’t be more strict, but we can mirror the state’s regulations, which is what we will try to do.”
Currently, the only place to buy legal cannabis nearby is on the Shinnecock Indian Nation’s territory, on Montauk Highway in Southampton, Burke said.
Two other businesses — Brown Budda and Mottz Green Grocer — recently filed lawsuits against Southampton, alleging that the town has created arbitrary and illegal barriers that prevent them from opening in violation of state cannabis laws. Charlie Fox has not sued yet.
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