Despite a great deal of debate, the Jersey City Council has yet to resolve the issue of a dispensary cap and again tabled the ordinance that would have limited them to 67.
The cap would set the maximum allowed at 48, but it would allow dispensaries already in the process to be grandfathered in for a total of 67.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has already endorsed intense cannabis dispensary market competition publicly more than once.
The issue of allowing too many dispensaries but too few lounges has been disputed greatly.
Caucus Discussion
“The Council should opine and make a decision on this,” began Jersey City Senior Planner Matt Ward regarding the long delay during the Jersey City Council’s caucus held before the formal meeting.
He also noted there was a related ordinance on how close dispensaries could be located to each other, which had also been tabled.
“It was essentially pulling back a dual responsibility for cannabis establishments and distributors between the planning board and zoning board/the cannabis control board. It was fully handing over the reins to the Cannabis Control Board, which is
what the second reading ordinance before you does,” he explained.
“That would be the accompanying ordinance?” Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh asked.
“There would still be this two-headed animal between city planning and CCB (Cannabis Control Board). It would remove a hoop,” Ward replied.
“We did clarify the grandfathering language. Anybody that files an application before the moratorium went in place would be grandfathered in in terms of the caps in the ward,” Acting Corporation Counsel Brittany Murray explained.
She also noted that vehicles can be used for delivery as long as they have a CRC license before discussing additional details.
“If a business has been given a council resolution of support and they have not opened in months, that must be included in the report from the CCB provided to the council quarterly,” Murray said.
“We went through a draft of the ordinance in terms of the word school. It does not include universities,” she added.
Intoxicating Hemp Concerns
Council President Joyce Watterman said she wanted to keep cannabis vendors away from festivals, claiming she saw edibles being sold at an event over the weekend.
“Governor Murphy recently signed a bill regarding hemp and regulation of hemp products. We’re waiting on regulations from that. There was also a partial dismissal of it in the federal court,” Murray said.
Assistant Corporation Counsel John McKinney explained that federal legalization of intoxicating hemp by Congress created a unique situation and marketplace.
“That’s probably what you’re seeing,” he said.
Many dispensary owners believe legal hemp sales cut into their profits along with underground legacy operators. To make matters worse, they pay a very high federal tax rate since they can’t write off their expenses legally. So they say they don’t make the large amount of money many thought they would, or others imagine they do.
Watterman noted how difficult the process is to open a legal cannabis dispensary.
“Now they’re just setting up a table on the outside. What can we put in place to safeguard it?” she asked.
“Federal law says it legal. We’re probably going to have to wait and see how this plays out,” McKinney answered.
“If someone is doing a market, or whatever, and they would have to disclose if there’s hemp or any controlled substances. That would be part of the application,” Saleh suggested, also asking for due diligence in checking IDs.
Complications
“But the distance … has shrunk?” Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked.
“It’s no longer a strict requirement that they be 600 feet apart. They have to notify the CCB of everybody located within 600 feet,” Murray replied.
“Can you just describe the rules around transferring licenses? If we’ve issued eight per ward if one of the 8 goes out of business. What happens to that license? Can they sell it?” Ward E Councilman James Solomon asked.
“I can look into that. The CRC (New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission) oversees that. We can fill that application,” Murray said.
“Pot City!” Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano exclaimed, and Saleh chuckled.
Separately, Commerce Director Maynard Woodson noted A Higher Ground
dispensary had a resolution on the agenda to open at 41 Marin Blvd. They received CCB approval in November 2023.
“There are no distance issues,” he noted.
There are already 48 dispensaries approved by the city council, according to the commerce department’s map.
Jersey City Council Public Hearing
At their meeting the Jersey City Council opened the dispensary cap ordinance up for debate.
“This ordinance does not include clear guidelines on preventing an oversaturation,” Danielle D’Adamo said.
“The ordinance lacked transparency in the approval process,” she added.
“I was at church on MLK, and next to the House of prayer, they opened a smoke shop. I smelled the smoke. There should be a regulation,” Lavern Webb Washington said.
Osbert Orduna of the Cannabis Place dispensary said he was part of the “Jersey City Coalition for Responsible Cannabis.”
“We are against the passing of the ordinance,” he declared. “We are very concerned about the over-saturation.”
“The state of New Jersey currently has 177 dispensaries across the entire state including the 16 open in Jersey City right now,” Orduna claimed.
He thought too many dispensaries would hurt workers.
“Even the 49 you’ve approved already is an astronomical number,” Orduna complained.
He was concerned about businesses closing.
“I’ve had city representatives say that is the fair market economy. That’s insanity,” Orduna complained.
He also alleged it would lead to homelessness and boarded-up storefronts.
More Public Testimony
Attorney Robert De Pisa said he represented local dispensary applicants.
“These are small businesses. They have made a significant investment,” he said.
De Pisa complained about the cannabis consumption lounge cap.
“Hit pause,” he said.
“Oversaturation leads to lose of jobs,” UFCW labor union leader Hugh Giordano argued.
He said some would lose their business as well.
“I’ve seen where they oversaturate a city, and the big guys come in and buy everyone up, and it becomes Walmart,” Giordano argued.
He argued that lounges would be good for locally-owned businesses.
“I want to be able to consume my medicine safely,” Giordano said.
Council Tabling Hot Button Issue
“Explain this ordinance, then we’re going to table it,” Council President Joyce Watterman said.
Murray said changes included streamlining.
“The main change is putting on a license cap, caps for each different license. The 48 cap, just to clarify, would not lead up to 118. The maximum it could be is the 67 or 68 we already have. Later on, it would have to fall below 48 and 8 per ward for us to issue any additional Class 5 licenses,” she explained.
“We tried to give the CCB a little bit more control over their agenda and enumerate local licensing requirements,” Murray added.
She said the Planning Board hearing would be eliminated from the process and replaced with a Zoning Determination letter.
“The consumption lounges are limited to six for the entire city, one per ward, and also changed hours to 11 PM as opposed to staying open to 2 AM,” Murray said.
Concerns Remain
“I believe we’re making a motion to table this ordinance?” City Clerk Sean Gallagher asked.
“We’ve had both email and speakers from the public talk about the number of dispensaries allowed,” Solomon noted.
“That would be a maximum of 67, which still is still a lot,” he said. “Is this right?”
“That’s correct,” Murray said.
“We had the city challenge who got to put the pin in the map first. The city was struggling to determine that. So that’s already happened,” Solomon noted.
“I do really want to dive into the consumption lounge,” he said. “I really want to understand where the city intends to go on that.”
“At some point, we either got to vote this thing up or vote it down,” Gilmore said. “I don’t even know how we fix it.”
The Council tabled it 7-0.
Heady NJ has heard talk some dispensaries that have been through the Jersey City cannabis process will not be able to open.
Across New Jersey, the debate over distances and caps is raging. Some dispensaries have sued towns on the issue, along with others with varying degrees of success.
Jersey City Dispensary Cap Long Time Coming
The Council tabled a potential dispensary cap law last fall when it was apparent to everyone there might be too many dispensaries.
Dispensary owners were against the cap then as well because they thought it was too high.
The Jersey City Council has been slowly moving the revived effort since summer. The ordinance was on second reading last night before they tabled it. It passed the first time again on 1st reading on September 11th.
The Council also pushed it at a meeting on September 25th, where a controversial museum proposal was furiously debated.
The following Jersey City cannabis dispensaries are already open:
- Ript
- Downtown Flwr
- Garden Greenz
- Cannabis Place
- 1634 Funk
- Leaf Joint
- Uforia
- Bay Street Greenery
- Golden Door Dispensary
- Cream Retail
- Blossom dispensary
- MMD Shop
- The Other Side Dispensary
Among the other Jersey City cannabis dispensaries coming soon are:
- JC Element
- Xena Dispensary (formerly Medusa)
- Legacy to Lifted
- Benedict’s Supply