Donohue reiterated the municipality’s support for INSA, a vertically integrated Massachusetts company engaged in the cultivation, manufacture, sale and distribution of cannabis.
The company has plans for a medical marijuana dispensary on the site of the former La Monica plant. The legalization of recreational cannabis in New Jersey led company executives to expand their plans for the site to include the cultivation and distribution of cannabis to other retail outlets outside the municipality.
Middle Township will propose a ban on public marijuana smoking and vaping at its April 5 Committee meeting. The measure would establish fines of up to $1,000 for violators.
Though New Jersey recently legalized marijuana use for adults over 21, municipalities retain the right to regulate smoking and vaping in public areas. Local governments also have the ability to restrict sales and cultivation of marijuana and related products, and limit the number of marijuana businesses within their boundaries.
As other Cape May County towns move to block cannabis-related businesses, Middle Township officials may be heading in the opposite direction.
The Township Committee already supported a proposal for a medical marijuana facility on Indian Trail Road, and members are now considering a request to expand that use to grow for the new adult-use market.
In the meantime, municipalities like Cape May, Middle Township, and Avalon have until Aug. 27 to decide the best course of action in the best interest of their community.
“We have 180 days to review the new law,” said Cape May's Interim City Manager Michael Voll. “It’s a whole new challenge for us. We are a law-and-order community, but we are open-minded. We will review what we can permit, prohibit and allow while protecting the health and safety of our community.”
It’s been a little more than a year since representatives of a Massachusetts-based firm pitched a proposal for a medical marijuana facility in a former seafood processing plant on Indian Trail Road.
After a lengthy presentation by representatives of Insa of Easthampton, Massachusetts, the Middle Township Committee voted to support the use, which is part of the application process to receive a state license for medical marijuana.
Egg Harbor Township gave four companies letters of support for their applications to open medical cannabis facilities there during a special meeting Wednesday.
The deadline to apply to the state to compete for 24 new licenses is this month.
“This (the letter) is a small piece of the puzzle,” said Committeeman Frank Balles. “It would be great to have the ratable.”
Most of a three-hour Middle Township Committee meeting Aug. 5 was given over to public discussion of a proposed medical marijuana facility on the Indian Trail Road site of the former La Monica clam processing plant.
In the end, the governing body agreed to send a letter of support for the proposal.
A packed room listened to a prepared presentation by Insa Chief Executive Officer Mark Zatyrka, an acknowledged medical marijuana user.
The committee then turned over the next two hours to questions and comments from the public.
After more than two hours of testimony – much of it from residents vehemently opposed to the idea – Township Committee on Monday unanimously approved issuing a letter of support to a proposal for medical marijuana facility on Indian Trail Road.
As part of the Middle Township’s ongoing efforts to boost job creation and economic development, Mayor Tim Donohue, Administrator Kimberly Krauss and a group of township department heads met in early July with the principal owners of INSA, a cannabis cultivation and distribution company based in Massachusetts.
As part of the Middle Township’s ongoing efforts to boost job creation and economic development, Mayor Timothy Donohue, Administrator Kimberly Krauss and a group of township department heads met in early July with the principal owners of INSA, a cannabis cultivation and distribution company based in Massachusetts.
According to a release, INSA is a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis company that has been in operation since 2017. They have operations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.