The Consolidated Planning Board of the Town of Highlands heard from a Fort Montgomery property owner last week about his plans to convert the former Rockwell Automotive building (1005 Rt. 9W) into a cannabis processing facility.
Miguel Rosario has owned the building for a little over two years, he told the Planning Board in a 'new business' matter, and has operated a Ducati sales and service facility there. "But it wasn't doing well," Rosario said.
So, he put feelers out for other uses for the building – his main occupation is real estate – and found a potential tenant who wants to lease the building for 18 months while that company's larger cannabis processing facility is being built in Middletown. The operation is a packaging plant and would in Fort Montgomery require a special use permit to change the property from commercial to industrial.
Rosario, with his consultant Phil Vurchio at the meeting, said it's possible he'd be interested in getting a similar-use long term tenant into the building after the short-term lease concludes. Planning Board Chairman Erik Smith told Rosario that the first thing that needs to be done is for the applicant – whether that is Rosario or the tenant – to provide a site plan for whatever is being proposed.
Read more at The News of the Highlands