Stockton Borough in Hunterdon County has issued a Request for Dispensary Applications for 1 license they are permitting in their town.
They reached out to Heady NJ to publish the news and were the first town to do so.
Stockton Borough is a small town of less than 1,000 people. But a lot of the towns around it don’t allow dispensaries. In addition, it is on the Delaware River with a bridge to Pennsylvania. So, people are likely to come across the bridge to buy legal adult-use cannabis. Pennsylvanian Republicans have been holding up their adult-use cannabis plans for 5 years and counting.
Only about 37 percent of NJ towns allow a cannabis company. Not even all of those allow dispensaries.
Applications are due by July 25th. It costs $5,000 to apply and $10,000 yearly to maintain a Stockton Borough dispensary license.
Thorough Cannabis Dispensary License Process
Like many other towns, they require applicants to fill out a very thorough application.
“The Borough’s goal is to receive applications from cannabis retailers with the qualifications, responsibility, financial capability, and experience to operate a highly regulated business,” the application says.
The Council’s cannabis review committee is supposed to review, evaluate, and score each application using established evaluation criteria.
The committee will rank the applications and issue a recommendation to the Town Council. The Council will consider but is not bound by their recommendation. The town is giving itself about 4 months to decide.
Applicants are required to both email and submit physical paperwork.
If clarifications or modifications of the Request For Applications (RFA) are made, they will be posted no later than July 10th.
The Borough requires the successful applicant to obtain site plan approval from the Stockton Borough Planning Board within one year of getting a resolution.
In Jersey City and elsewhere, Planning Board approvals come before Council approval in general.
Qualified Dispensary Applicants Preferred in Stockton Borough
According to the announcement, the applicant needs to demonstrate qualifications and experience. That includes a summary of the applicant’s qualifications and experience. They are especially interested in experience in highly regulated industries, including cannabis-related businesses in New Jersey or in other locations. They also need to submit a description of the applicant’s experience operating a retail cannabis business.
At least 3 signed references are required. They must include the basis for the recommendation, their relationship to the applicant, and contact information.
The applicant shall provide details regarding its financial capability to open and operate a cannabis establishment and evidence of the sources and amount of funds.
The applicant shall provide documentation on the number of months of operating expenses it has in reserve to sustain its operation and outstanding debt to be funded by operating revenue.
They do want to know if a company is diversely owned* or if the owner qualifies as Social Equity.*
Does the applicant or operator (or any person holding any ownership interest in either) hold a cannabis license or letter of endorsement from any other jurisdiction?
The applicant must provide a list of every person or company with an ownership interest and a copy of its organizational chart.
They are curious if someone has already applied to the CRC.
The owners cannot have had a cannabis license or permit revoked for a violation affecting public safety in New Jersey or anywhere else in America within the last five years.
Applicants must sign an oath that they have not taken part in collusion.
Cannabis Real Estate Requirements
Companies need a letter from the Borough Zoning Officer stating that the property conforms to their zoning requirements for cannabis.
They also want to know if any portion of the property on which the cannabis business is located is within 200 feet of a school, park, playground, childcare center, day center, or place of worship.
There’s an implication that there might be a Green Zone where dispensaries are allowed and places not in the Green Zone.
The applicant must provide a thorough security plan for the storage of products, security, commitments, and arrangements for coordinating with police, video surveillance, and retention of security personnel.
Evidence of site control is required. That includes a deed, a lease, a real estate
contract depending upon licensing, or a binding letter of intent by the owner.
If the applicant does not own the location, they must indicate that the landlord knows they want a dispensary and will permit buffer and fencing requirements.
They also need to provide documents like photographs, surveys, architectural renderings, and/or floor plans that illustrate the property’s conditions. Companies must also submit their proposed plans for the building.
More Requirements
Like other towns and normies in general, Stockton seems very concerned with security. It’s as if Ocean’s 11 is about to rob it.
They want to know their workforce development and job creation plan and if it includes diversity and hiring locals.
They also want to know about an applicant’s community impact plan, their commitment to the Stockton Borough community, plans for maintaining consumer service standards, and plans for addressing complaints and concerns from the community and residents.
Town Dispensary Processes
Cannabis Committee Chairman and Stockton Borough Councilmember Thomas M. Hunt said they are prepared for the ramifications of an extremely competitive process. They include the lawsuits and accusations of shadiness that often follow a process like this.
