SCHENCTADY, ​​NY (WRGB) — The city of Schenectady is seeking to halt the opening of new dispensaries.

The City Council is proposing a 90-day moratorium that will suspend new building permit applications for dispensaries until February 11, 2025.

The moratorium will give city officials time to assess the impact of cannabis dispensaries on neighborhoods. The goal is to develop new zoning regulations to restrict where they can and cannot go.

“We are receiving many requests for cannabis dispensaries in various locations throughout the city and we are also receiving concerns from residents about where they are located,” said Schenectady City Council President Marion Porterfield .

Porterfield said the board wants to ensure new dispensaries are located in areas that meet community expectations.

“We need to kind of pump the brakes and do this zoning to make sure that we’re taking into account the schools that are nearby, the facilities and places of worship. The moratorium is about taking the time to look at that, to make sure we’re not inundated with the number of cannabis stores,” Porterfield said.

Currently, Schenectady is home to at least three dispensaries, with more expected to open in the near future.

Porterfield said these new zoning regulations are necessary to ensure these stores don’t all open in the same area.

“Especially since the state only says there are 1,000 feet on a street. It’s not the radius, so you can have cannabis locations within a thousand feet of each other as long as they’re not on the same street,” Porterfield said.

The moratorium would impact applications submitted after November 13. The existing application will not be affected.

The City Council is expected to vote on the moratorium at its next council meeting on Monday, November 12.