Livingston Advances Potential Ban On Marijuana Businesses

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Livingston has taken a big step towards a local ban on marijuana businesses.

The Livingston Town Council passed ordinance 18-2021 on first reading during their Monday meeting (watch the video below).

If it passes a second reading, the potential law will ban all six classes of cannabis businesses from operating in Livingston: cultivation, manufacturing, wholesale, distribution, delivery services and retail.

A public hearing and final vote is scheduled for the council’s meeting on Monday, July 12.

Michael Vieira, the only council member to vote against the ordinance, said it would go against the will of the voters if Livingston chooses to “opt-out” of the state’s recently passed recreational cannabis laws.

Vieira pointed out that 17,391 Livingston residents cast votes on a ballot question in the 2020 general election that legalized cannabis in New Jersey. Out of those local residents, 11,339 voted in favor of legalization while only 6,052 voted against it.

County-wide, the results were also overwhelmingly in favor of legalization; 229,144 Essex County residents voted yes and 89,315 voted no.

“The bottom line is that the 2020 general election made marijuana legal in New Jersey, which includes our town of Livingston,” he said.

According to Vieira, there’s a place for cannabis businesses in Livingston if they’re properly regulated via local zoning and planning. Possible locations could include the business end west of the Livingston Circle, the industrial area off Route 10 and Eisenhower Parkway, or the Livingston Mall, he said.

But according to Mayor Shawn Klein, who voted in favor of the ordinance, Livingston isn’t the only Essex County town that’s considering “opting-out” – for now.

Klein said he spoke with other town officials during a recent “meet the mayors” event, which drew several of his peers from across Essex County.

“I was struck by the fact that some of the most marijuana-forward towns in Essex, including South Orange and Maplewood, and I think Montclair as well, are all opting out of all the licenses at this point,” Klein said.

Montclair currently has a medical marijuana dispensary, Ascend Montclair, which was among the state’s first. Another medical cannabis dispensary recently opened nearby in Maplewood.

According to Klein, some towns are leaning towards their own bans on recreational cannabis businesses because their lawyers have advised them the state’s regulations aren’t clear yet, and they should wait to see what the final rules are before moving forward.

“This is not a delay tactic,” Klein said of the town’s potential ban.

The mayor said that for the record, he’s personally in favor of approving all the classes of cannabis business in town, except for retail uses such as dispensaries.

“Because of reticence in the community, I think it’s reasonable to go a little slower into that pool,” Klein said.

The potential ban in Livingston has been a topic of discussion in the township for months, with officials holding two separate town hall events on the issue.

• See related article: Watch 2nd Town Hall On Legal Marijuana In Livingston

Some members of the board of commissioners in Nutley expressed a similar “wait and see” approach when they recently passed a cannabis business ban in their town.

“We just want to make sure we're doing it the right way, and to do that we need to see what the final laws, the final regulations look like once the ink has dried,” Nutley Commissioner John Kelly said.

• See related article: Nutley Bans Marijuana Businesses Within Town Limits – For Now

New Jersey voters approved recreational marijuana in November 2020. But it wasn't legal to fire up the bong until Gov. Phil Murphy signed the official framework into law on Feb. 22.

Now, adults 21 and over are allowed to consume cannabis on private property. Read More: 5 Things You Need To Know About Marijuana Legalization In NJ

When state lawmakers crafted the legalization bill, they left room for municipalities to ban or limit the number of cannabis businesses operating in their communities. Town governments have a 180-day period from when the bill was enacted to pass a law banning cannabis businesses. They will be able to repeal or alter their ordinances afterwards. If they don't pass an ordinance in that time, not only will marijuana businesses be allowed to operate, but local officials won't have another chance to issue a ban for a period of five years. Read More: Marijuana Is Legal In NJ. But Can Towns Still Ban It?

Watch a video of the June 21 Livingston Town Council meeting below.

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