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Beacon to remove loitering language on smoking after state marijuana law preemption; residents urge stricter rules
Summary
Council opened and closed a public hearing to align the city’s loitering code with New York State’s marijuana rules; residents urged limits on public smoking but staff said state law preempts local regulation of smoking on public sidewalks.
The City of Beacon Common Council on June 2 held a public hearing and moved to close it on a proposed amendment to the city’s loitering code intended to align local law with New York State’s marijuana legalization and decriminalization provisions.
City legal staff said the amendment is intended to remove language that conflicts with state law: “This is just correcting the law to remove something that the city is not permitted to have in its code,” a staff member explained during the hearing.
Several residents urged the council to take a stricter stance on public smoking, saying cannabis smoke lingers and can affect outdoor diners, families and visitors. One resident said of public cannabis use, “Marijuana is much stronger than it ever was and the smoke lingers in the air,” and asked whether Beacon wants that on Main Street and at outdoor dining.
Another resident said smoking is becoming widespread on benches and outside bars and called for regulation: “Keep it, put some regulations on it because… it’s growing like a weed in Beacon.”
Council members and staff clarified that New York State law permits public use of cannabis in places where smoking is not otherwise banned and that the city may restrict smoking on its own property, such as parks, but cannot impose an across-the-board prohibition on public sidewalks. As staff summarized, the state “preempts” local regulation of cannabis smoking on public sidewalks and similar public spaces. The city already prohibits smoking in parks, and the proposed amendment removes inconsistent loitering language.
After hearing public comment, the council voted to close the public hearing; no substantive local prohibition on public cannabis smoking was adopted, and staff said changes are limited to removing language contrary to state law. The council also noted that if the city wants a different statewide standard, that would require action at the state level in Albany.
The council will consider the draft local law at a later meeting; in the interim, the parks ban on smoking remains in effect.
