Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis, a non-profit founded to ensure the proper implementation and regulation of Hoboken’s cannabis industry, won a lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court against the City of Hoboken Planning Board and Blue Violets. HRC successfully argued that the Planning Board did not have jurisdiction to review the application for the Blue Violets dispensary which violates Hoboken’s Commonsense Cannabis ordinances.
The Commonsense Cannabis ordinance that went into effect on April 28th, 2022, prohibited cannabis dispensaries from being within 600 feet of primary and secondary schools. Blue Violets dispensary located at 628 Washington Street, is just over 200 feet from both Hoboken Charter School and All Saints Episcopal Day School which combined educate approximately 300 Hoboken students. Blue Violets did not submit a complete application to the Hoboken Planning Board until after the Commonsense Cannabis ordinance went into effect therefore must obtain a variance from the Zoning Board to operate in that location.
“The law and the facts were on our side, and I am happy the judge agreed.” says Liz Urtecho, a founding member of Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis and Candidate for Hoboken City Council 5th Ward. “The dispensary is too close to the school – breaking our local ordinance, but when we brought it up to the city, the planning board, and our local representatives, they would not listen to us. It didn’t have to get this far; if the residents’ voices had only been heard from the beginning.”