Canceled Dispensary Hearing Draws Brick Zoning Board Chair's Ire

BRICK, NJ — A late-day message from the applicants seeking zoning board approval of their proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary prompted an angry response from the board's chairman.

The special meeting of the Brick Township Board of Adjustment that was scheduled to continue hearing an application by Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care to turn the old Ocean First bank on Adamston Road into a dispensary was set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

At 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, zoning board secretary Pamela O'Neill and board attorney John Miller, along with Edward Liston and Robert C. Shea, attorneys representing some of those opposing the project, were notified by email from John Paul Doyle Jr. that he and the applicants would not be attending due to issues with required notices to those within 200 feet of the property at 385 Adamston Road.

"To tell you the truth, tonight what happened I'm really upset about the notice," zoning board chairman Harvey Langer said. Video of the proceedings, which lasted 15 minutes, was posted on the Brick Residents Say No To Rezoning Facebook page.

"We don't want people coming out so many Wednesday nights and (being) told we're not hearing it tonight, because soemone didn't send the proper notice, which is inexcusable," Langer said.

Langer said Doyle had mailed the notification letters from his office instead of going directly to the U.S. Post Office and sending them via certified mail.

"They handed it to the mail carrier instead of going to the post office directly," Langer said.

Doyle's email canceling the applicant's appearance noted that Liston, who is representing four families opposing the application, and Shea, who is representing VFW Post 8867, next door to the property, had raised issues about lack of proper notice. Some letters were not received until Jan. 7. New Jersey land use law requires that meeting notifications be delivered a minimum of 10 days before the hearing date.

Without proper notice delivered to property owners in a 200-foot radius of a site seeking variances, the zoning board does not have jurisdiction to hold a hearing, Miller said.

Shea and Liston said similar concerns existed with the notification surrounding the first hearing in October.

"So you're saying we should start over from the beginning?" Langer asked, and then asked the two attorneys to put it in writing.

Shea also questioned whether the board should be hearing the application at all, since Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care was not among the six companies announced in December who were chosen by the state Department of Health to continue the permit process.

"Do they even have a right seeking a use variance for a permit that doesn't technically exist?" Shea said, likening it to a company seeking to open a nursing home without a state license.

A date for a new hearing has not been set, Miller said, because availability of the room at Civic Plaza and availability of township planner Tara Paxton, along with the attorneys and professionals from both sides had to be determined before any date could be set.

Langer also had angry words for a website posting that said the next hearing would be Feb. 27, a posting Shea said was made by Joel Allcock, the chief financial officer for Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care. The post set off a firestorm on social media, with opponents claiming it was proof corruption surrounding the project.

Langer said he initially suggested Feb. 27 as a possibility before learning Paxton was not available for zoning board hearings on the last Wednesday of the month.

"I said it, but it was not confirmed," Langer said. "Before you go posting something on your website, make sure it's confirmed."

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

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