NORTH BRUNSWICK – The members of the North Brunswick Township Council have passed resolutions supporting a retail cannabis facility’s application and a cannabis cultivation facility’s application to the state to become licensed marijuana businesses.
On Jan. 10, council members passed a resolution in support of Jersey Garden Greens to operate a Class 5 Retail License and adult use cannabis retail facility; and a resolution in support of Cedar Fairmont Health Cultivators for a Class 1 Cultivator License to operate an adult use cannabis cultivation micro business.
“It is our policy to accept any request to support a state application from an organization that has properly created an LLC per the state regulations and are otherwise deferring to the state process regarding screening,” Michael Hritz, director of the North Brunswick Department of Community Development, said during the meeting.
Hritz said the council’s resolutions support the businesses, but do not ensure a commitment.
He further said the state will receive hundreds of applications and he explained that if state officials approve and license either or both businesses for North Brunswick, a business or businesses will have to come before the Planning Board to obtain land use approval.
Councilman Ralph Andrews said this procedure has been established so the state does not approve an LLC, only to have a municipality deny an application.
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.
In North Brunswick, the vote was 11,307 “yes” to 5,914 “no” on the legalization question.
The law established six marketplace classes of licensed marijuana businesses in New Jersey.
On July 26, 2021, the Township Council unanimously approved all six classes.
• Class 1 – Cannabis Cultivator license, for facilities involved in growing and cultivating cannabis;
• Class 2 – Cannabis Manufacturer license, for facilities involved in the manufacturing, preparation and packaging of cannabis items;
• Class 3 – Cannabis Wholesaler license, for facilities involved in obtaining and selling cannabis items for later resale by other licensees;
• Class 4 – Cannabis Distributor license, for businesses involved in transporting cannabis plants in bulk from one licensed cultivator to another licensed cultivator, or cannabis items in bulk from any type of licensed cannabis business to another;
• Class 5 – Cannabis Retailer license, for locations at which cannabis items and related supplies are sold to consumers;
• Class 6 – Cannabis Delivery license, for businesses providing courier services for consumer purchases that are fulfilled by a licensed cannabis retailer in order to make deliveries of the purchased items to a consumer; the service would include the ability of a consumer to make a purchase directly through the cannabis delivery service which would be presented by the delivery service for fulfillment by a retailer and then delivered to a consumer.
In November 2021, council members adopted an ordinance that, in part, establishes the CAN-R1C Cannabis Route 1 Corridor Overlay Zone, which allows for the retail sale and delivery of cannabis products on Route 1 in a commercial shopping center or mixed use area that has more than 25,000 square feet of retail/commercial floor space and that provides direct access from Route 1.
The ordinance also establishes the CAN-JA Cannabis Jersey Avenue Overlay Zone, which permits all classes aside from retail in the industrial sections of the Jersey Avenue corridor in warehouses that are more than 35,000 square feet in space, with no more than 5% of the area of the building located within 250 feet of a residential zone or unless separated by the Northeast Corridor rail line.
Both overlay zones prohibit the location of any such establishments within 500 feet of a school, a house of worship, a park or a playground.
Township Attorney Ronald Gordon said North Brunswick permits two license holders per permitted cannabis license, as long as the license holders comply with state regulations.
There must also be “site control” so the location of any business complies with zoning restrictions in North Brunswick.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].