More than 100 Hoboken residents took part in the virtual hearing. Many who live above or near space – which was a restaurant and bar at one point – says that a recreational marijuana dispensary does not belong in such a residential area. But it leaves many others to ask where else could a dispensary be located in a city so densely populated?
“Hoboken is more complicated. Every block – the commercial and industrial – they all have residential in them,” says Councilwoman Tiffany Fischer. “I think that tension is what we are bumping into right now.”
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and members of the City Council admit that it is time to revisit Hoboken’s local rules for retail sales of marijuana. Two more applications for stores on Washington Street will be heard by the board next month, and two medical dispensaries have already been approved and are set to open soon.