BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- The alleged smell of marijuana on the John Story trail has upset one Massena village resident but village trustees say there may be very little they can do about it.

According to Trustee Ken McGowan, one resident recently reached out to him to voice their concerns with the odor when walking the trail that surrounds the Massena Central School's campus. 

McGowan said the smells were present "during certain times of the year" and could be smelled while walking on the trail, commenting it was unclear where specifically the smell came from. 

He said the resident asked him if there was "some code in that (village code) that we could enforce a quality of life issue with marijuana." 

"I know it’s legal and I told this individual that Mike (Lead Code Enforcement Officer Mikel Kelso) and I talked about it,” McGowan said at the October village board meeting. 

McGowan said he was unsure what, if anything, the village could do considering regulations were already passed in 2021 and 2023 that dictate the authorized sale of marijuana in the village. 

Under those laws, only retail sales would be allowed in the village in the Central Business District, Commercial Transition District and Commercial Auto-Related District.

No on-site cannabis consumption is allowed at establishments in the village, nor are cultivation operations outside of those specific zones. 

State laws also dictate the location of such operations, which states dispensaries cannot be within 500 feet of a school's property line. 

But McGowan said he was unsure where the smell was coming from and figured "it was someone growing their own pot." 

"I don't know when harvest typically would be or anything of that nature but maybe it was due to that," McGowan said. 

He commented there was no known way to access the property to address any concerns and clarified he was unaware if any violations actually existed. 

"I asked this individual who's involved with this kind of work if he's done any research and he hasn't," McGowan said. 

He said he told the individual he would "bring it up for discussion" but admitted he "didn't even know where to begin." 

In the meantime, Mayor Greg Paquin said he would bring up the situation with village attorney Matthew McArdle, saying he had serious doubts anything could be done with marijuana use on private property. 

"I don't think there's much we can do in this case but we'll find out," Paquin said.

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