Bloomfield will be holding a special meeting to discuss and potentially adopt an ordinance on allowing recreational marijuana businesses.
During their most recent meeting, the council decided to make several changes to the ordinance that was introduced at the end of June.
The original ordinance was referred to the planning board who returned a handful of suggestions.
Michael Parlavecchio, the township attorney, said the planning board recommended a 200-foot buffer to schools and houses of worship from where cannabis would be sold.
A fired worker is testing New Jersey’s state’s cannabis law by suing his former employer, alleging he was wrongfully terminated for marijuana use days after the state legalized the drug.
New Jersey’s top court ruled last year that employers cannot fire medical marijuana patients who use cannabis in their free time. The new marijuana legalization law will extend these protections to those 21 and older, but whether or not that provision applies to workers now has been debated.
At their Monday night meeting, the Middletown Township Committee unanimously voted to prohibit recreational marijuana businesses from opening within Middletown limits.
Holmdel and Aberdeen are in the process of passing similar bans, and even Asbury Park (run by a Democratic mayor and all-Democrat Council) passed a ban on pot shops, saying they haven't been able to come up with "thoughtful marijuana zoning regulations."
After a short discussion at the July 13th Township Committee meeting, it was decided to ban pot completely in Holmdel.
An August deadline looms and two competing ordinances were listed on the agenda. One allowed growing of pot, the other banned it.
On one area, all elected officials agreed. They wanted a ban on retail cannabis in town. It was the growing that was controversial. Prior to the meeting, several officials were still considering the cultivation option for farms in Holmdel.
Legal cannabis sales – retail and wholesale – are coming to town.
The town council voted, 7-1, Monday to approve those select operations, restricting them to the commercial zone along Myrtle Avenue (Route 202).
Council members approved the ordinance after a brief public discussion in which about six of the 40 people in attendance voiced their opinions about the measure.
Some were against retail sales and urged the council to keep the operations away from schools and children.
The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission will only partially meet its deadline. CRC chairwoman Dianna Houenou said the agency has “begun putting pen to paper” on draft rules that might change and that will not address every topic included in the state’s legalization law.
“Due to the timelines that are dictated in statute, developing regulations on every single topic that’s identified in the CREAMM Act is simply not very practicable,” Houenou said of the 166-page Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act.
The Borough Council Monday night approved two ordinances that will permit retail sales of marijuana at a maximum of two locations limited to storefronts on state highways 22, 202 and 206.
Other neighboring towns, including Hillsborough, Bridgewater and Manville, have been less receptive to granting licenses to sell marijuana, voting against retail stores and farming, cultivation and warehouse operations.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Township Council will vote Tuesday on whether to allow certain cannabis businesses into Parsippany. The ordinance up for adoption would permit wholesalers and distributors into town while prohibiting all other kinds of weed businesses, including dispensaries, for the time being.
Wholesalers can obtain and sell cannabis items for later resale to licensees, while distributors transport items in bulk throughout New Jersey.
Aberdeen Township will allow marijuana to be grown in that town, but it will not allow retail marijuana businesses to open.
Holmdel and Middletown are likely voting not to allow marijuana businesses to open up in their towns, either. It remains unknown what Matawan will decide.
This Wednesday night, the Aberdeen Town Council will vote on an ordinance that will change the zoning of part of Aberdeen to allow "cannabis establishments, distributors and delivery services" to be located there.
The Lawrence Town Council introduced an ordinance that allows marijuana businesses to operate in selected areas within the municipality.
During the June 15 meeting, the council introduced Ordinance 2400-21 that permits retail, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and delivery of cannabis.
By introducing the ordinance, the council hopes to get ahead of the Aug. 21 deadline set for municipalities to decide whether to allow or block marijuana retail.