EATONTOWN — Borough Council members may take formal action at their meeting tonight, Jan. 25, regarding a proposal to cultivate and manufacture cannabis at a facility proposed at 265 Industrial Way.
A representative from Cana-Bosem, LLC, presented the application to the governing body on Jan. 11, but no action was taken because the council members agreed they wanted to meet the owners of the business before a formal decision was made.
The owners of the business may attend tonight’s council meeting in the municipal building. The applicant is seeking a resolution of support from the council, which it would then bring to state cannabis regulators as it pursues a license to operate the proposed business in Eatontown.
Speaking during the Jan. 11 council meeting, Scott Stein, a representative from Cana-Bosem, told municipal officials the 35,000-square-foot facility would house an indoor farm.
He described a 45-day process with five harvests per year. The expected gross revenue could reach $50 million and Eatontown would receive 2% through a local tax.
One cannabis business, Garden State Dispensary, Route 35, currently operates in Eatontown. The business sells medical cannabis and adult use cannabis (also called recreational cannabis).
In 2021, state legislators approved the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act after New Jersey voters in 2020 approved a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana.
The state legislation legalized the recreational use of marijuana for certain adults; it decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and hashish (a marijuana concentrate); and it removed marijuana as a Schedule I (high potential for abuse) drug.
The law established six marketplace classes of licensed marijuana businesses in New Jersey: cultivator; manufacturer; wholesaler; distributor; retailer; and delivery.
Following the state’s action, Eatontown Borough Council members adopted an ordinance establishing the locations where cannabis businesses would be permitted to operate and the standards by which a business operator would be permitted to receive a license.
Each type of cannabis business, with the exception of a cannabis delivery business, is permitted to operate in Eatontown in designated areas.