Riverdale residents push back against proposed cannabis shop
Bella Notte, a restaurant on Johnson Avenue, has been vacant for several months. A license application has been submitted to open a cannabis store at the location, prompting backlash from some community members.
More Stories
A proposal to convert a former restaurant in Riverdale into a cannabis dispensary has some pushback from residents.
Bella Notte, a restaurant on Johnson Avenue, has been vacant for several months.
A license application has been submitted to open a cannabis store at the location, prompting backlash from some community members.
Blondie Greek, who works at Melia’s Hair Studio, said she believes the business would do more harm than good.
“I just feel that they’ll bring crime and everything into the area,” Greek said. “That’s my main concern.”
Since learning about the proposal, Greek launched a petition opposing the dispensary.
She said it already has more than 125 signatures.
“A lot of people come, customers come and they sign and they bring their friends to come and sign because they don’t want it,” she said.
Gordon Silverman, a Riverdale resident who signed the petition, has those concerns.
“I’m not against cannabis shops but I am against overwhelming a neighborhood with cannabis shops,” he said.
Greek said she is not opposed to the storefront being rented, just not as a cannabis business.
“Open up a restaurant, somewhere to eat or something like all the restaurants around here,” she said.
Greek said that several residents also voiced their opposition to the proposal at a recent community board meeting.
However, she fears the license could still be approved.
Her hope is that the petition will generate enough community support to block the dispensary for good.
