ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) filed an appeal to lift all affected regions of injunction on Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses with the exception of the Finger Lakes region — an OCM spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.

Those who applied for CAURD licenses locally will have to wait longer. According to the OCM, there is currently no timeline on why they were kept on hold or when they may be either considered or approved.

The State Cannabis Control Board announced the first adult-use cannabis retail sales will begin on December 29 at Housing Works in Manhattan — a non-profit organization.

Britni and Jayson Tantalo co-own Flower City Hydroponics in Fairport. The couple submitted one application out of hundreds in New York State, as part of the CAURD program, to hopefully obtain a license to begin selling marijuana on the market legally.

On November 21, the Office of Cannabis Management approved the first CAURD licenses in New York but did not approve licenses from the Finger Lakes. Many organizations — such as Flower City Hydroponics — were disappointed by the outcome.

Within the last two weeks, they were notified of a recent appeal by the state office of cannabis management that would ultimately delay their process even longer.

“We were expecting more CAURD licenses. Then, we were notified that’s not going to happen until the new year. With this injunction, it’s hard to tell. There’s no way to predict, it could be a few months, a few weeks, or a few years,” said Britni Tantalo.

A spokesperson for OCM tells News 8 four of five regions are included in the appeal to be released from the injunction, excluding the Finger Lakes.

The Tantalos say they, and many others in our region, are uncertain for what their future holds.

“We’re at a standstill, so it’s hard. It’s difficult to swallow, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to remain supportive and offer our resources to those that do have licenses that are still applicants waiting to be licensed in the regions not under the injunction. It’s important we stick together,” said Jayson Tantalo.

The couple has started a coalition online with two other CAURD applicants based out of the NYC area, where dozens of other businesses have joined them in the fight to move forward.

“We knew, and we were ready to take on that task. But, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that it would be this volatile,” said Britni Tantalo.

News 8 requested an on-camera interview from OCM for this story, and did not hear back.

Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.