EDITOR’S NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider is hosting an in-person business networking event July 14 at The Asbury in Asbury Park. Tickets are limited.
Not so fast.
It may have gotten state approval, but a dispensary in Montclair Township will have to wait a little longer to begin adult weed sales, according to local officials.
Ascend Wellness, which owns the medical dispensary in Montclair, began selling recreational adult weed on Tuesday for just over three hours without the township’s final approvals.
Ascend — believing it had submitted all the paperwork it needed to the township and having already gotten state approval — let patrons inside the dispensary at 395 Bloomfield Avenue from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday to begin adult weed sales. It stopped after the township informed the company it was in violation of a zoning ordinance to launch recreational marijuana sales for adults 21 and over, according to Caitlin Fleishman, director of Public Affairs and Communications at Ascend.
“To be clear, Ascend is not permitted by law to sell adult-use cannabis unless and until its license application is deemed complete and is approved and unless and until it receives all required zoning approvals,” Montclair Township said in an email to NJ Advance Media on Wednesday. “... since Ascend did not have the appropriate permits to sell adult-use cannabis, any such sales on June 7th were illegal. Ascend halted sales when notified that Township officials may be dispatched to their facility.”
Fleishman confirmed Ascend was asked to cease selling adult weed while its application was still being reviewed by the township. She declined further comment on what occurred Tuesday.
This week’s standoff between Ascend and Montclair Township represented a year of ongoing negotiations between both sides over launching recreational marijuana sales. It also showcases how a municipality’s ordinances trump state approvals, and that a township — even after making the decision to opt in on legal weed — has final say on if and when they can start.
A township statement said Ascend submitted its application for a license to sell adult use cannabis on Tuesday afternoon, and another application for a conditional use permit to the township’s planning board a day earlier.
It stressed those applications need be be approved before sales can begin, and that they “remain outstanding.” The conditional use permit application “will likely be heard at the Planning Board’s June 20 or July 11 meeting,” according to the statement.
Typically, when a resolution is approved by a township’s planning board, it won’t be memorialized until the following planning board meeting. In this case, 30 days from either June 20 or July 11.
“We don’t have a time frame at this point,” said Fleishman on when the company could get final approvals from township.
Fleishman confirmed Ascend started adult weed sales on Tuesday but denied it knew it was doing it prematurely.
“We opened 8 a.m. 10 a.m. for medical only sales (state requires we have patient only hours),” Fleishman said in an email. “We stopped adult use sales at 1:30 p.m. The town said they will send code enforcement/police. We also submitted our town local application.”
Katya Wowk, Communications Director for Montclair Township, told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday that township police officers were never dispatched to the Ascend site.
The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission on May 24 approved Ascend’s application to expand to adult recreational weed sales in Montclair, along with two other medical dispensaries, also known as alternative treatment centers.
The two other ATCs that were approved the same day were TerrAscend, to offer adult weed in its Lodi facility; and AYR Wellness, to expand beyond medical cannabis at three dispensaries in Eatontown, Union and Woodbridge.
An AYR spokesman told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday the firm was still focused on opening in the coming weeks and would announce dates soon. A representative for TerrAscend said the firm still does not have dates on when it will start adult marijuana sales in Lodi.
Ascend’s store in Rochelle Park began offering recreational weed on April 21, when New Jersey first kicked off legalized sales.
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Suzette Parmley may be reached at sparmley@njadvancemedia.com or follow her on Twitter: @SuzParmley
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N.J. legal weed delayed in Montclair after being sold for a few hours - NJ.com
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