By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – Cannabis shops are coming to Red Bank.
At its meeting Oct. 12, the borough council granted approval to three companies: Canopy Crossroads, LLC will operate at 9 West St.; The Frosted Nug will open a shop at 20 North Bridge Ave.; and Monteverde NJ, INC will open close by at 45 North Bridge Ave.
The council members voted unanimously to issue the retail cannabis business licenses after each application was reviewed by the borough’s Cannabis Review Board, created in April by an ordinance that also set rules for cannabis businesses in the borough.
The Cannabis Review Board is an advisory committee to the council. The board reviews license applications for all cannabis businesses, conducts hearings with the applicants and provides recommendations to the council for awarding licenses.
“We’ve had three meetings with the cannabis committee and that brought this resolution today,” said councilwoman Laura Jannone who is one of the members appointed by the council to the board which includes the police chief, the director of community development and the director of code enforcement.
The Cannabis Review Board made sure the applicants met the borough’s and NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s requirements for Class 5 (retail) licenses. “Among some of the conditions we included in our review were environmental sustainability, ties to the host community, and commitment to diversity in ownership and employment,” Jannone said in an email. The three applicants met those conditions.
The borough currently allows one cannabis cultivator’s license, one cannabis manufacturer license, one cannabis wholesaler license, one cannabis distributor license, one cannabis delivery license and a maximum of three cannabis retail licenses. “We have one Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator application that we are currently reviewing,” said Jannone.
All three applicants came before the council after winning site plan approval from the planning board to proceed with the municipal approval process. The licenses are in effect through Dec. 31, 2024.
The businesses can now apply for a state license with the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission; municipal authorization to operate within its jurisdiction is required before the state will grant a license.
The businesses are required to pay all licensing fees and comply with all municipal tax regulations as well as all licensing requirements set forth by the borough. The licenses will be revoked if any of these conditions are violated.
In November 2020, New Jersey voters approved Public Question No. 1 to amend the New Jersey Constitution to legalize the sale of marijuana and use by adults at least 21 years of age.
On Feb. 22, 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act, a law which legalized the recreational use of cannabis by adults and established a comprehensive regulatory and licensing scheme for all commercial recreational cannabis businesses, along with rules for the use and possession of cannabis.
Pursuant to that act, the Borough of Red Bank adopted an ordinance in April this year establishing municipal licensing requirements for applicants with a host of conditions from ensuring environmental safety and sustainability to generating employment opportunities within the borough’s borders and taxation regulations for cannabis businesses. The borough also established a Cannabis Review Board to advise the borough council on issuing municipal cannabis business licenses.
The article originally appeared in the October 19 – 25, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
