Harmony received unanimous support from board members to open a dispensary and revealed that the New Jersey Department of Health has issued preliminary approval to proceed with its Hoboken location. Hoboken’s planning board and Historic Preservation Committee have already granted Harmony final approval.
Terrapin filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter claiming that Harmony never submitted an application to Hoboken’s Medical Cannabis Review Board as part of their application. Under regulations established last June, prospective dispensaries have to submit a “favorable report” amid other requirements before opening.
The decision could put two competing dispensaries just a block apart in the city. The state only has 15 medical marijuana dispensaries currently. Some are more than an hour away from a competitor.
Terrapin, which has dispensaries in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado, sued the Hoboken Planning Board and Harmony last fall. It claimed Harmony lacked valid approval because it bypassed a newer municipal law requiring applicants to come before the review board.
In the 2020 general election, New Jerseyans voted two-to-one in favor of recreational cannabis legalization. Meanwhile, less than 10,000 feet across the Hudson in New York, the drug remains illegal. In order to figure out what New Jersey’s legalization means for cannabis use and possession in New York (for instance, when will we be able to smoke freely at the Hoboken PATH terminal?
A Secaucus-based company called Harmony Dispensary expects to open a marijuana dispensary near the Hoboken train station by the end of the calendar year, but two other companies hope to come to that area as well — and now, one is suing the other.
Law 360 reported on Sept. 24 that Terrapin, a cannabis company that also wants to open a dispensary near the train station, is accusing Harmony of "bypassing New Jersey's vetting process" and wants Harmony's approval reconsidered.
Terrapin, who have proposed their facility about a block away at 86 River Street, filed a lawsuit on September 22 in Hudson county court looking to overturn Harmony’s approvals. Named in the case are Hoboken’s planning board, SBRE Realty Management, and Harmony Foundation.
There appears to a “Green District” of sorts emerging in the Mile Square City as another medicinal pot dispensary is being proposed in the neighborhood near the PATH station.
Colorado-based Terrapin, who became one of the country’s first licensed medical marijuana providers in 2009, has intentions of opening a new outpost in the Riverview Historical Plaza building at 86 River Street. Formerly home to a bank branch, the company is working with Hoboken-based MVMK Architects to revamp the 3,500-square foot space into their latest location.
The Mile Square City could soon become New Jersey’s Mile High City.
With the legal recreational marijuana on New Jersey’s ballot in November, cannabis companies are rushing to secure places in Hoboken. Colorado-based medical marijuana company Terrapin is the latest company to go public with plans to open a Hoboken dispensary, announcing the move in a Wednesday press release.
The Jersey City-based land use consulting firm of Dresdner Robin recently completed zoning analyses for a proposed medical marijuana dispensary in Hoboken, after the Planning Board approved the plan in July, a spokesman for the firm said recently. It's now likely to open by the end of the calendar year, a spokesman said.
The Hoboken City Council first voted on revisions to the zoning ordinance for that area back in January. The Planning Board voted to grant conditional use for the site at a special meeting on July 14 (minutes here).
The 411 {not the 420} on the Dispensary Space