All cannabis consumption areas are required to reside on the same parcel as a dispensary. Developers must locate indoor consumption areas in a separate room from a dispensary’s retail floor, and outdoor consumption areas must have borders tall enough to prevent passersby from viewing the use of marijuana within the premises.
Outdoor cannabis consumption areas cannot share a lot with a residential structure or sit less than 200 feet from a school, park, or residential property. And any rooftop consumption area must be set back at least 50 feet from the windows of a neighboring building.
In addition to the support for consumption areas that Ward received prior to the meeting, a cannabis attorney spoke before the board on the merits of creating designated places for marijuana use. Jessica Gonzalez from the law firm Bressler, Amery, and Ross said that the areas are a particular advantage in states like New Jersey, which bans marijuana consumption in public.
“If you are somebody who is renting an apartment, your landlord can prohibit the vaping and…the smoking of cannabis products, but they can’t actually prohibit the possession of cannabis,” Gonzalez said.