So far 22 businesses either have applied or are waiting for a date on the Jersey City planning board agenda to apply. In addition to approval from Jersey City applicants need a license from the state of New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission which is now hearing applications, though it has not issued a timeline for when a given application will be heard.
As for the why, there seem to be as many reasons as there are applicants.
Haytham Elgawly, owner of the Clearport, a clothing store at 759A Bergen Avenue in McGinley Square, said he’s been waiting on legal cannabis in New Jersey since California legalized it in 2016, and now is the time to act.
“One thing COVID taught us is you have to know how to adapt,” he said. His plan is to move his clothing store to another location nearby and then convert that space into Medusa: Stoned at First Sight, a high-concept dispensary that could become one of, if not the first “consumption lounge” in the state, Elgawly claimed.