On February 22, 2021, Governor Murphy signed into law P.L. 2021, C 16, known as the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” (hereafter, the “Act”). This Act legalized the recreational use of marijuana by adults 21 years of age or older and established a comprehensive regulatory and licensing scheme for commercial recreational cannabis operations, use, and possession. New Jersey now joins 20 other states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis (aka “marijuana”). And the vote was not even close:
· Statewide the vote was 2,737,682 yes to
1,343,610 no (or 67% to 33%)
· Mercer County was 119,390 yes to 48,171 no (or
71% to 29%)
· Lawrence Township was 11,993 yes to
4,883 no (or 71% to 29%)
So now that it is
legal, what next?
Notably, the Act provides municipalities with
authority to permit, regulate and prohibit one or more of the six classes of
licensed businesses[1] to operate within their
borders. To exercise the control provided in the Act, a municipality
must adopt an ordinance before August 22, 2021, or lose the right to do so for
at least five years. Therefore, our governing body has determined that it would
be in the best interest of our community to adopt an ordinance to regulate
where cannabis-related businesses may operate within our community.
I can tell you for the past several years,
officials from cannabis-related businesses have expressed great interest in our
community because of its ideally situated location within the state and access
to main highways. I fully expect that there will be continued
interest from all classes of cannabis businesses looking to operate within
Lawrence Township now that the Governor has signed it into law. As a
result, taking no action is not an option. We need to ensure that
these businesses (most notably, Cannabis Retailers) are located in zones as far
away from residential areas as possible to preserve the quality of life of our
residents. To that end, we have determined that a cannabis
retailer or cannabis delivery business seeking to operate within Lawrence
Township would be restricted to U.S. Route 1 between Franklin Corner Road and
Quakerbridge Road; destination storefronts far removed from residential
neighborhoods.[2] For example, the retail sale of
cannabis will not be allowed at the Lawrence Shopping Center or any other
storefront in areas within easy walking distance to residential
neighborhoods.
In addition to the above, the governing body
has determined that all other classes of cannabis-related businesses would be
required to locate within our “mixed-use (MX)[3],” “Limited Industry (LI)[4],” and the Executive Park Plaza area[5]. These classes of business are low
profile operations and would be well situated in these
areas. Moreover, cultivating cannabis would be limited to the
districts above but would not be permitted in our agricultural district (as a
farming activity). Simply put, large cannabis farms are not
appropriate for our community.
The obvious benefit to our municipality for
these businesses to operate within our township is increased job opportunities
and an influx of commercial ratables. It will also provide another
opportunity for abandoned buildings to become occupied and
productive. In addition to these benefits, the Act permits
municipalities to impose a local cannabis tax (2% for Class 1, 2, 5, and 1% for
Class 3 businesses). This tax would be an added revenue source to our municipal
budget that will work to reduce our overall costs to operate as a municipality.[6] I am just being real people --
it will help.
I know that there will not be 100% approval
from our residents passing an ordinance that authorizes cannabis-related
businesses to operate here. Some will passionately advocate to
prohibit it because they are against the use of marijuana. And, of course, it
is their right to do so. Though 71% of Lawrence residents
voted to legalize the use of recreational marijuana for adults, I understand
that the vote does not translate to a vote to authorize cannabis-related
operations within our community. However, it does suggest that the
majority would support a thoughtfully regulated, permitted use within our
community, and that is what we are trying to achieve.
There have been no final decisions
made. The Mayor and Council Members have cast no votes and will continue to
consider it all. The ordinance will be drafted over the next several
days and placed on the agenda for introduction at an upcoming
meeting. Stay tuned. I will make sure to shine a light on
the process so that you are informed.
NOTE: Below is a link to
the New Jersey State League of Municipalities website to better understand the
issue and have some of your questions answered. It is a great
resource and should be reviewed before opinions are expressed. Facts
are critical to a productive community conversation!
https://www.njlm.org/969/Cannabis-Legalization
[1] Class 1: Cannabis Cultivator –
facilities involved in growing and cultivating cannabis; Class 2:
Cannabis Manufacturer – facilities involved in the manufacturing,
preparation, and packaging of cannabis items; Class 3: Cannabis
Wholesaler – facilities involved in obtaining and selling cannabis
items for the later resale by other licensees; Class 4 – Cannabis
Distributor – businesses involved in transporting cannabis plants in
bulk from one licensed cultivator to another, or cannabis items in bulk from
any type of licensed cannabis business to another; Class 5 – Cannabis
Retailer – locations at which cannabis items and related supplies are
sold to consumers; and Class 6 – Cannabis Delivery – business
providing courier services for consumer purchases.
[2] A limit of not more than 2 retail shops
at any given time may operate……is being considered.
[3] Mixed Use districts permit
manufacturing, laboratories, and/or warehouses. They include lands
along Princess Road, Bakers Basin Road, Lawrence Station Road, and Route 1 just
north of Route I-295.
[4] Limited Industry districts permit
light industrial uses, warehouses, and industrial parks and has access to the
Route 1 corridor. It is located along Quakerbridge Road, Lawrence
Station Road, Ohio Avenue and Enterprise Avenue in the southern part of the
Township and includes existing industrial uses.
[5] Executive Park Plaza Area is
located between Franklin Corner Road and Route 1-95, west of Princeton
Pike. This area would need to be rezoned to an MX zone.
[6] As much as several hundred thousand
dollars.
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