Deer Park cannabis applicant sues Babylon over dispensary delay

A Deer Park cannabis applicant has taken the Town of Babylon to court, turning a stalled dispensary plan at 786 Grand Blvd. into a test of how much power local officials can still use to slow legal marijuana on Long Island.

MRM Ventures LLC filed an Article 78 proceeding last month against Babylon over the lack of approvals for its proposal, saying the company already meets state cannabis-law requirements. The dispute centers on a site listed in Babylon zoning-board material as application #25-247, a portion of an existing business on the south side of Grand Boulevard, 272.70 feet west of Brandywine Drive.

The company sought a special exception permit to open a retail recreational marijuana dispensary and asked the town to cut the required residential setback from 750 feet to 460 feet. Hearing material said the proposed store would cover 2,267 square feet. Nearby Quail Run residents objected, citing traffic, odor and proximity to community facilities, while the applicant argued that state rules should control. The zoning board reserved decision.

The lawsuit matters because Babylon has become one of the central battlegrounds for legal cannabis on Long Island. The town did not opt out of adult-use retail dispensaries in 2021, making it one of only four Long Island townships that stayed opted in by default. A 2024 New York State Bar Association account said Babylon later became home to two successful recreational dispensaries and that Long Island’s first legal recreational store opened there.

That history has not ended the friction. In October 2023, Babylon proposed a six-month moratorium on new dispensaries after the state Office of Cannabis Management issued zoning rules the town said could override local authority. Town special counsel Matthew McDonough said then that Babylon’s regulations had already produced Long Island’s first and only retail store at the time, with five more in the pipeline. By August 2024, Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer said the town had collected nearly $1.2 million from legal cannabis sales, with some of the money earmarked for a second location of the town’s drug treatment center and for education programs.

For Deer Park, the case is immediate. A ruling for MRM Ventures could push Babylon to approve more applications or limit how aggressively it can use zoning to shape the market. A ruling for the town would reinforce the idea that municipal approval remains the gatekeeper, even in a township that helped launch Long Island’s legal cannabis economy and now sits at the center of its next phase.