After nearly two years of waiting, a Fairport couple receive a marijuana license

Rochester, New York – After two years on hold, one family has finally received approval as licenses to sell legal marijuana in New York State are still being granted and processed.

Outside of Perinton, Flower City Hydroponics is owned by Britni and Jayson Tantalo. The pair was among the first in New York to apply for a CAURD license because they were the first in their group to be able to do so: individuals with a prior cannabis conviction.

The couple can now proceed.

“It’s truly a self-sacrifice because you have to give a lot to it and you want to see it succeed,” said Britni Tantalo.

The business owners waited over 24 months before receiving a license, which they received this week.

“Once we found out, it was a sigh of relief. This industry is very unstable and knowing the fact that we get to bring regulated and legal cannabis to our community brings stability,” said Jayson Tantalo.

Despite the passage of time and witnessing their colleagues succeed in sales, the pair persisted.
They bought a Victor property back in November and kept up the rent to maintain a potential location for future business.

In the upcoming weeks, they will start to renovate the Pittsford Victor Road location with the goal of opening on September 26.

“It was high risk with very little reward, not knowing because of the unknowns. However, the risk might pay off now,” said Jayson.

“We were in our eleventh hour and our lease was going to end and thankfully, it came,” said Britni.

It has given business owners like the Tantalos some hope that the court injunctions that had previously been lifted for the Finger Lakes and neighboring areas had been lifted. This has caused licensing to be put on wait even longer.

“Now that Flower City Dispensary can be part of it, I hope we can help change and help Rochester and the surrounding communities grow economically. That is the plan,” said Britni.