New Twist In Medical Marijuana-Lettuce Farm Proposal In Brick

BRICK, NJ — The battle over the future use of an Adamston Road property once proposed as a medical marijuana dispensary took a sharp turn over the weekend, after the attorney for the property owner filed a legal claim of default approval of its most recent site plans.

The "default," or automatic, approval claim by 385 Adamston LLC, published in the Asbury Park Press on Saturday, July 13, was made, attorney Dennis M. Galvin said, on the basis of "the failure of the Brick Township Planning Board to deem its application complete or, alternatively, to find the application incomplete with written notification to the applicant of the deficiencies within 45 days of submission of the application," according to the legal notice.

The default approval claim also comes in the wake of a decision by the Brick Township Board of Adjustment that said 385 Adamston LLC would need to seek a use variance to grow lettuce in an enclosed building — a decision Galvin called improper in the legal notice.

Under a "default approval," the owner of a property can move forward with plans if the planning or zoning boards fail to meet certain deadlines.

Requests for comment from Howard Hensel, the Brick planning board attorney, from Ronald Cucchiaro, the zoning board attorney, and from Edward Liston, the attorney representing residents who oppose development at the site, were not immediately returned Monday.

It's certain the default approval claim by 385 Adamston will be challenged in court, however.

The default approval claim is just the latest salvo in what has become a hotly debated site proposal in Brick.

The property at 385 Adamston Road, which for decades operated as a bank but now sits in a rural residential zone, was proposed last August as the site of a medical marijuana dispensary. Neighbors near the site vocally opposed the proposal, citing concerns about safety and increased traffic on Adamston Road.

The property owners sought approval through the Brick Township Board of Adjustment to build a 48,000-square-foot grow facility on the site to grow medical marijuana, with the bank building to be renovated and turned into the dispensary.

The zoning board hearings quickly turned tense, leading to the postponement of one hearing due to an overflow crowd. After the state Department of Health did not choose Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care as one of its six new dispensary permit recipients in December, the owners of 385 Adamston went through a series of modifications to its application. In March, it notified the zoning board that it was dropping the request for a use variance and asked to have the application transferred to the planning board for consideration of a plan to farm. At first, the proposal was to farm medical marijuana, then it changed to industrial hemp, and in May the plan changed again to farming lettuce.

All of those proposals have continued to draw opposition.

Liston, the attorney for residents nearby who oppose the project, detailed the evolution of the application from proposed dispensary to lettuce growing facility at the May 30 zoning board interpretation hearing, calling the lettuce grow proposal "a Trojan horse."

The zoning board was asked for its interpretation of whether growing lettuce hydroponically in a 48,000-square-foot building was considered a "customary and conventional" style of farming. The board's unanimous vote was no.

Galvin, in the notice claiming a default approval, called it "improper" that 385 Adamston was forced to appear at the hearing "without determining the completeness of its application, and that, as a matter of fact, the growing of lettuce and other leafy greens was clearly a customary and conventional agricultural use. "

After the May 30 meeting, Hensel told Galvin in writing that he believed the Planning Board "had no jurisdiction to consider the application, and "therefore refused to finalize any review for a determination as to completeness or schedule the same for a hearing."

Galvin's notice said 385 Adamston warned Hensel repeatedly of its intent to claim default approval if it was not given a list of its deficiencies on the application.

"The Applicant now having provided notice in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.4 claims automatic approval of its application given that the Planning Board refused to comply with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.3 and the application is now automatically approved.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Brick Company Hopes To Open Medical Marijuana Dispensary In Town
• Tension Marks Meeting On Proposed Brick Medical Marijuana Site
• Medical Marijuana Dispensary Proposal Before Brick Zoners
• Brick Zoners Continue Medical Marijuana Dispensary Hearing
• State Delays New Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Decision
• Medical Marijuana Dispensary Proposal Before Brick Zoners Again
• Medical Marijuana Dispensary Proposal In Brick Postponed
• Brick Firm's Medical Marijuana Permit Bid Fails
• Canceled Dispensary Hearing Draws Brick Zoning Board Chair's Ire
• Medical Marijuana Dispensary Shelved In Brick
• Brick Zoning Interpretation Sought On Marijuana Farm
• Brick Councilwoman Rips Activists Over Marijuana Song

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