Marijuana legalization coming to Cornwall in spring 2025

CORNWALL — Recreational cannabis businesses will be able to apply for operation in Cornwall this spring.

At a meeting of the town Planning and Zoning Commission Feb. 11, commissioners voted unanimously to allow the current moratorium to expire May 31.

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Connecticut in 2021. It was left up to municipalities to determine which license types are permitted in each town.

P&Z opted to allow its moratorium to lapse with no additional regulations in place. Prospective cannabis companies will follow the same process as other new businesses seeking a permit to operate in town.

When Cornwall’s moratorium expires, there are three cannabis license types that could be permitted in applicable zones: retail dispensary, micro-cultivator and food and beverage manufacturer.

P&Z felt confident allowing these license types based prior community feedback. In a 2023 survey of residents, 64% supported retail dispensaries, 62% supported micro cultivators and 61% supported food and beverage manufacturers.

Retail establishments will be able to apply for operation in the two commercial districts located in West Cornwall and Cornwall Bridge. Under town regulations, retail stores in the general business zones require a site plan review to obtain a permit. No public hearing is required for approval.

A micro-cultivator could apply for a special permit to operate as a commercial greenhouse, which would require a public hearing prior to approval. Micro-cultivators in Connecticut start with a grow space of up to 5,000 square feet with the potential to expand over time.

As for food and beverage manufacturer, land use consultant Janell Mullen said “a strong applicant with a great lawyer” could make a case to qualify under the regulations for home businesses.

P&Z Chair Anna Timell explained Cornwall has “no regulations allowing manufacturing except on a very small scale as a home-based business.”

Latest News

Hotchkiss lacrosse ices Kingswood Oxford 19-0

LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School opened the girls varsity lacrosse season with a big win in the snow against Kingswood Oxford School.

The Bearcats won 19-0 in a decisive performance March 26. Twelve different players scored for Hotchkiss, led by Coco Sheronas with four goals.

Keep ReadingShow less
HVRHS releases second quarter honor roll

FALLS VILLAGE — Principal Ian Strever announces the second quarter marking period Honor Roll at Housatonic Valley Regional High School for the 2024-2025 school year.

Highest Honor Roll

Grade 9: Parker Beach (Cornwall), Mia Belter (Salisbury), Lucas Bryant (Cornwall), Addison Green (Kent), Eliana Lang (Salisbury), Alison McCarron (Kent), Katherine Money (Kent), Mira Norbet (Sharon), Abigail Perotti (North Canaan), Karmela Quinion (North Canaan), Owen Schnepf (Wassaic), Federico Vargas Tobon (Salisbury), Emery Wisell (Kent).

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Ditto

ANCRAMDALE — Thomas Ditto of Ancramdale, born Thomas David DeWitt Aug. 11, 1944 in New York City changing his surname to Ditto at marriage, passed peacefully on Pi Day, March 14, 2025. He was a husband, father, artist, scientist, Shakespeare scholar, visionary, inventor, actor, mime, filmmaker, clown, teacher, lecturer, colleague, and friend. Recipient of numerous grants, awards and honors in both the arts and sciences, a Guggenheim and NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts fellow, he was a creative genius beyond his time. In addition to authoring scores of papers, he held several patents and invented the first motion capture system and the Ditto-scope, a radically new kind of telescope. He was a pioneer in computer generated video, film, and performance.

When not hard at work, he was always there to help when needed and he knew how to bring smiles to faces. He loved his family and pets and was supportive of his wife’s cat rescue work.

Keep ReadingShow less
Winifred Anne Carriere

SHARON — Winifred Anne Carriere passed away on March 6, 2025, at the age of 87. A resident of Sharon for many years, she later retired to Ancramdale, New York.

Born in New Haven to writers Albert Carriere and Winifred Osborn, Anne grew up in New York City. Raised in a Quaker family, she attended Friends Seminary, and The University of Wisconsin. Anne studied American Architectural History through Bard College’s University Without Walls. For her degree, she wrote a comprehensive history of the architecture of Sharon during its first hundred years.

Keep ReadingShow less