By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – A special meeting to discuss cannabis businesses was held at the borough hall March 29, where the council proceeded to approve the introduction of two ordinances amidst litigation threats from business owners.
The new laws include one on cannabis regulation that would set the rules about locations and hours of operation, and a Cannabis Review Board ordinance that would determine the cannabis business licensure procedure.
While the ordinances were not officially adopted at the meeting, the borough voted 5-1 to advance the amendments. The dissenting vote came from council member Kate Triggiano, who said she “cannot support spot zoning.”
Spot zoning is the practice of applying special zoning laws to a property or group of proper ties different from the laws in the area surrounding them. The practice can be considered controversial.
The borough approved a zoning map in 2021 to permit cannabis business locations but proposed changes in the current ordinance, two years after approving marijuana businesses in the borough.
According to the ordinance, the borough has imposed restrictions on where cannabis businesses can operate based on the zonal map. The ordinance restricts cannabis businesses from operating within 500 feet of parks, houses of worship and daycare centers, and within 1,000 feet of a “public or private school, playground, or housing facility owned by a public housing authority.”
Contrasting opinions from Red Bank Charter School parents heard during several previous meetings on the issue continued at the special meeting. While some continued to oppose cannabis businesses anywhere near schools, other parents were in favor of the businesses regardless of their proximity to schools, comparing their presence to liquor stores within the same radius.
Strong opposition to the ordinances mostly came from cannabis business applicants who threatened “potential lawsuits” due to revisions in the zoning map since it was first approved in 2021. At least one of the businesses has fallen out of the permitted zone.
The vacant property once occupied by a gas station at the end of Cooper’s Bridge on Route 35 is “being rendered unusable,” due to the zone change in the current ordinance, said Douglas Bern, an attorney representing Garden at Red Bank LLC, a cannabis applicant for the site at 80 Rector Place. Bern said his client initiated applications for a retail cannabis dispensary at a site that is “environmentally compromised,” based on the borough’s cannabis regulations resolution a few months ago and the 2021 cannabis zoning map.
Ballard agreed that the old gas station site “which has been blighted for many years,” would be the kind of place the council would like to see a cannabis business. But, Ballard said, borough attorney Dan Antonelli (who was not present at the meeting), had advised against changing the ordinance. “You would still have the option of going to the zoning board and get a variance to still have the site there, or a future council can always amend the ordinance to do a carve-out for that place on Rector Place,” Ballard said.
“We would have a huge undertaking going before the zoning board,” Bern responded.
The council later discussed adding the site but introduced the ordinance without it.
Several businesses that initiated licensing applications based on the zoning map they received from the council two years ago said they stand to lose a lot of time and money in the process. “I suggest we table (the ordinance) because if you pass this tonight, I don’t want to be threatening,” said Andrew Zeitlan, a cannabis retailer applicant. “This could result in litigation.”
The ordinances were drafted by the borough’s code committee including Ballard and council members John Jackson and Angela Mirandi.
According to the ordinance for cannabis regulation, all proposed cannabis businesses are required to get site plan approval from the planning board. Any cannabis microbusiness will be limited to 10 employees on premises no larger than 2,500 square feet. The hours of delivery and shipping/distribution for cultivation, manufacturing, wholesaling, and distribution uses shall be limited to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; the hours of operation for delivery service businesses shall be limited to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Hours of operation for cannabis retailers shall be limited to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Cannabis retailers may receive deliveries between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
The ordinance restricts locations for a cannabis retailer to not within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, playground, or housing facility owned by a public housing authority; 500 feet of parks, houses of worship, and daycare centers; 100 feet of public or private youth centers, swimming pool, or video arcade facility; and 250-foot radius of any other retail cannabis business.
Additionally, retailers are only permitted on the following streets: Riverside Avenue (between Bridge Avenue and Pearl Street); Shrewsbury Avenue (between West Front and Monmouth streets); Bridge Avenue (between Riverside Avenue and Monmouth Street); West Front Street (between Shrewsbury Avenue and Pearl Street); Brower Street; Allen Place; and Newman Springs Road (between Shrewsbury Avenue and Route 35).
Consumption lounges are not permitted within the borough and consumption of cannabis products is not allowed on retailer premises.
The Cannabis Review Board, an advisory com- mittee to the council, will be made up of a council-ap- pointed council member, the chief of police, the director of community development and the director of code en- forcement. The board will review license applications for all cannabis businesses, conduct hearings with the applicant and provide rec- ommendations to council for awarding licenses.
The qualifications and experience of cannabis business operators will be evaluated by the board following that of other “highly regulated industries, including cannabis, healthcare, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and retail pharmacies, with preference to experience operating such businesses within the State of New Jersey.”
The board will also review a summary of the environmental impact and sustainability plan from the cannabis businesses to assess whether the businesses have an effective environmental management system.
In an effort to create well-paying jobs with employee benefits in the municipality, the cannabis owners would have to submit proof of financial suitability to the review board.
The borough has limited the number of licenses for each class of cannabis business. There are three cannabis retailers (Class V) licenses allowed in the borough and one each for cannabis cultivators (Class I), manufacturers (Class II), wholesalers (Class III) and distributors (Class IV).
Final adoption of both ordinances is slated for the April 26 council meeting.
The article originally appeared in the April 6 – 12, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
