Medical Marijuana Dispensary Shelved In Brick

BRICK, NJ — An application to open a medical marijuana dispensary at the site of an old bank on Adamston Road has been withdrawn from the Brick Township Board of Adjustment.

In a letter to the zoning board that was reported by Ocean County Scanner News, attorney Dennis Galvin said Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care in Brick was withdrawing its application for zoning variances to potentially operate a medical marijuana facility at 385 Adamston Road. The site was a bank for many years, lastly under the Ocean First banner.

In its place, however, Galvin said they will be submitting a revised site plan to the planning board. Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care will "limit its request to cultivating and manufacturing marijuana which is a permitted agricultural use," said the letter, which was posted to the Facebook group Brick Residents Say No To Rezoning, the group vehemently opposing the dispensary.

Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care's proposal to turn the property, which sits in a rural-residential zone, into a medical marijuana dispensary required variances to operate as a commercial entity. Neighbors of the site have vehemently opposed the application since the start, expressing concerns about security and added traffic on Adamston Road.

The conflict over the application, between opponents and supporters of medical marijuana who are eager for a dispensary somewhere in Ocean or Monmouth counties — there are none currently, though the two counties are home to about 16 percent of the medical marijuana patients in the state — has been heated. Social media arguments have spilled over to public confrontations.

It also has fueled the debate over recreational marijuana in the township, and a week ago the Brick Township Council introduced an ordinance that would ban "the retail sale, cultivation, manufacturing and testing of marijuana products for recreational use" in the township.

It is not clear how that ban could affect the Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care proposal.

Galvin, who could not be reached for additional comment, is now representing 385 Adamston LLC, replacing John Paul Doyle as the attorney on the application. Doyle was sharply criticized by zoning board chairman Harvey Langer in January when a hearing on the dispensary application was canceled just hours before the meeting due to issues with the delivery of certified letter notifications to neighbors of the site.

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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