Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Lake George native and Saratoga Springs resident Charlene Wood plans to open a cannabis dispensary in a shopping plaza under construction amid the factory outlets north of Northway Exit 20.
“I feel women are underrepresented in the cannabis industry,” Ms. Wood told The Chronicle. “I’m excited to bring this business to the Queensbury area, which I know well.”
Her attorney Jon Lapper said it would be Queensbury’s first ever legal cannabis dispensary.
The plaza, at 1471 Route 9, is being developed by Russ Faden, a South Glens Falls native and former Saratoga Springs police officer who now owns dozens of area Subway sandwich franchises. A Subway will anchor the new plaza.
The project is to go before the Queensbury Planning Board on Aug. 27. If approved, they’re aiming to open sometime around March 2025, said Josh Silver, Ms. Wood’s son-in-law who is assisting her on the project.
Mr. Silver owns Silver Therapeutics, which has three dispensary locations in Massachusetts, two in Maine and one in Vermont.
He entered the industry nearly a decade ago. “I saw the opportunity develop in Massachusetts in 2016 when the law passed,” he said. He opened his first dispensary in 2019 in Williamstown, Mass.
Mr. Silver, who also lives in Saratoga Springs, said the dispensary’s product will come from licensed New York State cultivators and manufacturers and “will offer the full suite of cannabis-infused products, including flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, edibles, and vape cartridges.”
He said they chose Queensbury because “it’s the gateway to the Adirondacks, and to Lake George in particular. The location was chosen because we really like the outlets as a commercial district within Queensbury.”
He said he thinks the public will be supportive of the dispensary.
“It’s an open secret that anybody can buy illicit marijuana from head shops,” he said. “So I think what these communities have a right to is licensed marijuana, that is grown in New York, free of pesticides and heavy metals, tested, taxed, and delivers a real benefit to the community. These communities do share in the sales tax proceeds from cannabis.”
Mr. Silver said he is a former real estate attorney who grew up in the Albany area and spent summers in Bolton Landing.
Ms. Wood owns the real estate brokerage Town & Country Properties and co-owns with her daughter Chelsea (Mr. Silver’s wife) the Saratoga retail business Silverwood Home and Galleries.
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