The Town of Crawford’s January 14 planning board meeting featured a clarification regarding a proposed convenience store for an existing building on 34 Main Street. Many residents noticed that the building’s display window contained cannabis products, but those were from the previous owner and will be removed from the store.

During the meeting, the planning board held a public hearing for a change in use for a building on 34 Main Street in Pine Bush. Originally, this property was going to be a bakery, but those plans fell through. Applicant Abdalhamid Swelim, in place of the unopened bakery, submitted plans for a convenience store that would sell chips, chocolates, crackers, sodas, and other snacks. The store would operate Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Alayne Eisloeffel, program director and project coordinator of the Tri-County Prevention Coalition, raised a concerning observation during the hearing’s public comment portion. Over the last few weeks, residents passing by the project’s building have seen cannabis products in the display window, including bongs. Eisloeffel said that many people, including students, have been “buzzing” about the window display on Facebook.

“My concern started when I saw posts on Facebook about this particular store, from people who have driven or walked by the building,” Eisloeffel said. “I also run the Youth Partnership in Pine Bush High School, and there’s already been a lot of buzz about what’s displayed in the windows. There are bongs and references to weed in the windows.”

Eisloeffel then explained product exposure and how normalizing drug and alcohol products, especially within heavily-used routes, can peak minors’ interest in trying them before reaching the legal age.

“I want to acknowledge the applicant’s right to run a legal business. However, the proposed location is along established pedestrian routes, used daily by students traveling from school into town for a variety of reasons. These routes are not incidental; they’re predictable, routine, and heavily used by minors,” Eisloeffel said. “Repeated exposure to these types of products that are already on display in your store just increases the normalization of tobacco and other products. My coalition’s concern is the 12 to 18-year-old age group; I don’t care what legal age people buy, but we do care about the normalization and how it’s presented in the community.”

Swelim assured that the store would not sell any cannabis or drug products; the inventory is from the previous owner, and he is currently in the process of removing them. At the time of the meeting, he had removed about half of the old inventory. Swelim added that he did not put any snacks on display yet due to their expirations dates.

Following Swelim’s clarification, the planning board approved his plans to turn the building on 34 Main Street into a convenience store.