At Oceanport’s April 19 council meeting, the governing body voted 5-0 to approve an amendment to an ordinance that prohibits the launch of any business engaged in the growth or sale of medicinal and recreational marijuana or paraphernalia in any of the borough’s zoning districts, including its section of Fort Monmouth.
Council president Joseph A. Irace said the ordinance was a preemptive movement to counteract future development plans for borough property that might coincide with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s stated intentions to legalize marijuana.
“The problem with the way it’s set up now, these dispensaries are anywhere from 150,000- to 300,000-square-feet facilities, and that sort of construction kind of doesn’t fit in the borough of Oceanport,” Irace said. “If it does pass (at the state level) recreationally, these types of businesses just don’t fit with the complexity of our town.”