A meeting led by the attorney for the Brick company hoping to gain approval to build a medical marijuana dispensary and grow house shed immense light onto the details of the proposed business’s operations, but sometimes turned tense as neighbors faced off against marijuana activists who also attended.
The two hour-long meeting introduced Anne Davis, the founder of Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care (JSTHC), and her staff to the community. It was led by John Paul Doyle, a local attorney who will represent the company at a zoning board hearing next week. JSTHC is seeking permission to convert an existing bank building into a dispensary for medical marijuana patients and build a 48,000 square foot grow house on the 6.7 acre plot, located at 385 Adamston Road. The project requires a use variance, the most difficult type of variance to obtain, from the township’s Board of Adjustment. It is also subject to approval from the state Department of Health, which will announce the approval of six proposed dispensaries statewide Nov. 1.
The meeting was packed, with a line of attendees stretching out into the main hallway of the municipal building. Most of those who spoke at the meeting were medical marijuana patients – some from Brick, and some from other Shore communities – who shared stories of how cannabis relieved pain and helped them deal with chronic illnesses. The next-largest group consisted of residents whose homes are located near the proposed site. They questioned whether a dispensary and grow house constituted a security risk, could affect their property values, or could attract transient customers to local streets. On several occasions, the residents were met with heckling by some of the activists in the room, including one who was broadcasting a live feed of the meeting on Facebook. Still, the meeting was filled with detailed information on the project, and the JSTHC staff offered to work with homeowners and promised to be a good neighbor.