Update: Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis

Not much ever seems to happen in August, but September hit like a hurricane, so the time seemed right for an update on where we stand with cannabis dispensary approvals and regulations in town. Hoboken’s rocky road rolling out cannabis retail dispensaries couldn’t be more apparent as the City resolved three litigations this month out of the six total dispensaries allowed. 

September Headlines

HRC wins in court against Blue Violet's location.

HRC successfully argued that the Planning Board did not have jurisdiction to review the application for the Blue Violets dispensary which violates Hoboken’s Commonsense Cannabis ordinances and restricts cannabis dispensaries from operating within 600 feet of a school. Blue Violets is just over 200 feet from All Saints Episcopal Day and Hoboken Charter School.  Blue Violets did not submit a complete application to the Hoboken Planning Board until after the Commonsense Cannabis ordinance went into effect, and therefore must get a Zoning Board variance or appeal the judge’s decision in the court.  Overturning this decision will be difficult for Blue Violets.

It is unfortunate that Blue Violets continued their build-out while under litigation, and gambled that they would win in court.  It didn’t have to go this far –  had our local government abided by the rules they put in place and listened to the residents who elected them, the situation would have been resolved. The City Council had complete discretion to deny this application, but instead, they left it to residents to file a claim which took almost a year to resolve.  Blue Violets is now worse off than if the Council denied them at the beginning of the process and assisted them with sourcing an appropriate location. For full context, I recommend watching the Council meeting to hear the majority’s arguments for approval which contradicts the judge’s decision and supporting case law. LINK

Thank you to everyone who advocated for the kids at the schools– by attending and speaking at Planning Board and Council meetings, designing and distributing flyers, writing letters to the editor, having conversations with their Councilperson, and donating to the litigation.  It was a heavy lift, but we got it over the finish line, and it is a great example of the democratic process.

Story Dispensary - It’s not over.

The owners of 51-53 14th Street have come to a settlement agreement with Fulop/Nussbaum and Story Dispensary.  A settlement is a compromise where neither side wins, and the details of this settlement are confidential so we don’t know the implications.  Interestingly, Story put out a press release saying that they would be opening in the upcoming months.  Not so fast…they still need to get a state license. 

The state licensing process is slow and to date, Story is not on the CRC agenda.  Just a reminder in February, members of our community sent a letter LINK to the CRC regarding the many issues of Story’s application – sham ownership, political influence and financial benefit, and resident opposition.   Even though the condo association has settled, there is still a lot of opposition to this location and the political attachments that clearly contributed to the approval process. It is possible that the CRC, given the focus on NJ corruption, may not want to dirty their hands with this.   We will need to focus our attention back on the state process and keep the pressure on. There is more work to be done!

Terrapin is in, but still waiting.

As already mentioned, the state process is slower than the GW Bridge at rush hour. Terrapin, who was approved for their 86 River Street location by the Hoboken City Council, is still waiting for final approval from the state.  They are ready to go when that approval comes in, and we look forward to the grand opening.

Harmony is out.

The CRB will be recommending to the City Council that they vacate the municipal approvals for Harmony Dispensary.  Harmony was approved several years ago for a medicinal use dispensary.  Despite getting the approvals, they never built out their facility. After opening another location in Secaucus, the owner came under the spotlight  LINK  for getting himself into financial trouble. Even with a new ownership structure, the CRB wasn’t convinced that Harmony could operate a business that would benefit the community and voted to vacate the approvals.

Culture Hoboken may be in.

The City of Hoboken settled a lawsuit that was brought against them by Culture Hoboken, 321 Washington Street. Culture Cannabis argued that the CRB denied their application without providing adequate justification on four counts – failure to: (1) adhere to ordinances, (2) assure health and safety, (3) provide a positive impact to the community (4) meet the limited number of dispensaries for the ward.  The settlement allows Culture Cannabis to reapply for CRB approval based upon their original application date of April 5, 2022, which will put them at the top of the line to be heard by the CRB. HRC will keep an eye on the progress of this application, as it will go before the CRB, Planning Board, and City Council.  The expectation is that they must comply with the Commonsense Cannabis Ordinance.