Wayne Council Approves Ordinance Banning Marijuana Businesses

WAYNE, NJ — Township Council members approved an ordinance that bans all recreational marijuana businesses from operating within the township. This includes dispensaries, cultivators and testing facilities.

The adoption came after lengthy discussion that included public comment, and after council member Francine Ritter proposed that the council consider pulling the ordinance and reconvening with a public forum.

“Reconsider this one and allow the public to speak,” she said.

That won’t happen.

Though some council members expressed concern over making a decision on Wednesday night, a majority of board members remained steadfast in what was an expected vote to ban the establishments. Ritter was the only council member to vote against the ordinance.

Council member Joseph Scuralli was among the loudest opposition voices.

He called state lawmakers “radicals” and hammered them over their earlier passage of a clause that forbade law enforcement from telling parents if their kids were arrested with marijuana. That clause has since been eliminated. Read more: NJ To Require Parental Notification For Marijuana

Scuralli also dismissed data shared over the course of the night, saying he didn’t need it to make his decision.

“You can tell me anything you want about your research and your statistics, but I’ve seen it,” said council member Joseph Scuralli.

The ordinance was introduced at a March 3 meeting that would repeal and replace an existing ordinance that already bans these businesses from operating.

When New Jersey legalized marijuana in February, a stipulation of the new law allows municipalities to consider banning marijuana businesses, but doesn't allow them to use old ordinances to do so. So towns across the state have 180 days from Feb. 22 to draft new ones.

The new ordinance discussed at the Wednesday council meeting essentially mimics the old one, which places an outright ban on those businesses.

However, the ordinance doesn't restrict the use of medical marijuana in the township, and it cannot limit the use of recreational marijuana, or marijuana delivery, under the new law. Read more: Marijuana Is Legal In NJ. But Can Towns Still Ban It?

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