By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – In a 5-1 vote Dec. 5, the borough planning board approved applicant Susan Duckworth’s proposal to transform her existing warehouse on East Leonard Street into a cannabis cultivator facility. Board member Juanita Lewis was the sole dissenting vote.
Full Spectrum Biotech, a cannabis company based in California will be working in partnership with Duckworth, renting the property at 15 East Leonard St. for cannabis cultivation. According to the website of Full Spectrum Biotech, the company “specializes in the genetic development, cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of industrial hemp and its derivatives for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and consumer markets.”
Alexander Federico, chief operating officer of Full Spectrum Biotech, represented by Duckworth’s legal counsel Ed McKenna, testified before the planning board about security and operations for the grow site to be installed in the roughly 7,500-square-foot space.
Federico introduced himself to the board members as a native of Red Bank who moved to California in 2016 specifically to begin a cannabis business. He owned a residence on Leroy Place, went to Red Bank Catholic, and for a number of years in the early 2000s operated ice cream trucks in Red Bank, Fair Haven, Rumson and Little Silver. “So I’m pretty familiar with working with the police department as well as the city clerk here,” Federico said.
He said he was looking to return to his “hometown in conjunction with a family friend, the Duckworths, and partnering on that property to activate and hopefully build a very lucrative and one of the first cultivation sites here in Monmouth County.”
Federico noted there will be 24/7 armed security personnel on site and, depending on when and how the operations will start, the company will determine whether one or two employees will be hired. In addition, he assured, “we will have a rather robust security system, complete with cameras, sirens, horns, just about every other bell and whistle you could put around the property.”
He said a third-party security fence company will place a 7,000-volt electric fence inside the existing perimeter fence. However, he said, “there is no fear for actually getting electrocuted for kids or small dogs.” Federico explained it’s more like a jolt or pulse that’s just like “getting kicked in the chest. So, you’re not actually at risk. There’s never been a death from these fences installed. It is more of a deterrent than anything else.”
Federico said the typical operation of the facility will start around 5 a.m. There will be two, 10-hour shifts with four to six workers per shift. Temporary labor will be hired depending on the harvest cycle and harvest size. But since the store will be a bulk wholesale processor, “you won’t see our business anywhere in the retail sector,” Federico said. “We will be the brand behind the brand.”
He noted that their product will go directly to manufacturers and dispensaries “for them to change the form of that product and sell it to the retail ecosystem.” A typical plant life cycle, he said, is anywhere between 11 and 15 weeks through the harvesting and curing stage. At the end of the harvest stage about three to four days of temporary labor will be hired. After the bulk product is packaged and trucked out, the next cultivation cycle will begin.
Addressing concerns about air pollution or odor emanating from the facility Federico said the biggest threat to the grow site is exterior air and light that can come into the building, “and with only being able to harvest six to seven times a year, every cycle or one failed cycle could potentially bankrupt the company, so we take extra precaution.”
He said the air going out will be ionized and scrubbed using advanced filtration systems. “I promise you, you will not smell anything,” Federico told the board.
According to details on nj.gov, there is no established limit on the number of cannabis business licenses available statewide. By statute, however, the number of Class 1 cultivators is to be held to 37 licenses until Feb. 22, 2023. A Class 1 cultivators license is required for a person or business to grow cannabis.
So far, three additional Class I license applicants have been acknowledged by the borough, including Divine Garden LLC, G Trees, LLC, and ACTF NJ. Acknowledgement is the first step in the state’s application process.
The article originally appeared in the December 15 – 21, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
