Moorestown Council Hears Recommendations For Recreational Pot

MOORESTOWN, NJ — A committee assembled to help determine how Moorestown should handle recreational marijuana recommended at the last township council meeting that dispensaries be permitted within the township’s limits.

Mark Hines, who was a member of the committee along with Mayor Nicole Gillespie, Councilman Jake Van Dyken, Township Manager Tom Merchel, Township Solicitor Kevin Aberant, and former Moorestown Business Association President Steve Pazienza, made the presentation during the June 28 township council meeting.

“Consumption won’t change whether the businesses exist or not,” Hines said. “We’re anticipating businesses opening in Mount Laurel, Delran and Cinnaminson.”

He said there is no law prohibiting the transportation of marijuana to homes in the township from neighboring communities, even if the township bans businesses from actually operating in township limits.

Allowing the businesses to exist within the township will allow the township to collect additional tax revenue. In November, New Jersey residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana use. As part of the legalization process, the state established six types of licenses:

• Class 1: Cannabis Cultivator license, for facilities involved in growing and cultivating cannabis;
• Class 2: Cannabis Manufacturer license, for facilities involved m the manufacturing, preparation, and packaging of cannabis items;
• Class 3: Cannabis Wholesaler license, for facilities involved in obtaining and selling cannabis items for later resale by other licensees;
• Class 4: Cannabis Distributor license, for businesses involved in transporting cannabis plants in bulk from one licensed cultivator to another licensed cultivator, or cannabis items in bulk from any type of licensed cannabis business to another;
• Class 5: Cannabis Retailer license for locations at which cannabis items and related supplies are sold to consumers; and
• Class 6: Cannabis Delivery license, for businesses providing courier services for consumer purchases that are fulfilled by a licensed cannabis retailer in order to make deliveries of the purchased items to a consumer. It also includes services that would include the ability of a consumer to make a purchase directly through the cannabis delivery service which would be presented by the delivery service for fulfillment by a retailer and then delivered to a consumer.

Anyone holding a Class 1, 2, or 5 is subject to a 2 percent municipal transfer tax on the lawful sale of marijuana, and those with a Class 3 license are subject to a 1 percent tax.

Hines recommended all six licenses be permitted within the township, and there be no limit on the number of licenses the township allows. The committee also made the following recommendations:

• Dispensaries be indoor only;
• No minimum lot size;
• Dispensaries should be built on land occupied by existing facilities. No new construction should take place as a result;
• No consumption at retail locations;
• No consumption in public places;
• No sales to intoxicated individuals;
• Signs would only be permitted to display the word “cannabis”;
• Businesses would be open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday; and
• Anyone who violates any of the prohibitions would be subject to a $200 fine.

Hines said the committee had some concerns about the societal impacts of allowing recreational marijuana dispensaries to exist in Moorestown.

He also made it clear that consuming marijuana in public, such as in consumption rooms or as an edible at a restaurant, was not “desirable for Moorestown.”

“Cannabis should be consumed responsibly at home,” Hines said.

The presentation was made during the workshop portion of the meeting, and no action was taken. The next discussion on this issue will likely take place at the July 26 meeting, Gillespie said.