Brick Planners' Attorney Rebukes Lettuce Farm's Approval Claim

BRICK, NJ — The attorney for the Brick Township Planning Board issued a blistering rejections rejected a claim by the attorney for a proposed marijuana-turned-lettuce farm that it has earned automatic approval of its application, saying the proposed use isn't permitted.

The letter from Harold N. Hensel to Dennis Galvin, the attorney for 385 Adamston LLC, rejects Galvin's claim that the application to construct at 48,000-square-foot building and operate a lettuce farm at 385 Adamston Road, a property in the rural residential zone, is entitled to automatic approval. Galvin made the assertion in a legal notice published in the Asbury Park Press last weekend, claiming "default approval" based on the Planning Board not responding to certain issues within a 45-day time frame.

Hensel's response, in essence, boils down to "nice try."

"As I have previously stated to you in prior correspondence, the Brick Township Planning Board did not, and does not have jurisdiction to hear an application for development that is not a permitted use in the zone," Hensel wrote.

Hensel wrote that he told Galvin up front that a marijuana grow house was not a permitted use, which is what led to the interpretation hearing before the Board of Adjustment.

He called Galvin's assertions that a grow house was permitted and that "the clock is ticking" on the application a "not-so-subtle attempt to backdoor an approval without a hearing on the substantive aspects of the site plan before the appropriate board."

"Applications before planning boards cannot seek approval of site plans for uses not permitted in the applicable zone," Hensel wrote. "The board has no jurisdiction to hear such applications. That determination has been made, initially by me when I referred the matter to the zoning board for an interpretation, and subsequently by the zoning board's decision."

Hensel cited a court case out of Wall Township, saying, "Clearly if the board lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of an application, no automatic approval can be obtained by the board's failure to act."

"Thus the planning board will not recognize your assertion that an automatic approval has occurred with this application," Hensel wrote.

The legal notice posted July 13 by Galvin and Hensel's reply are just the latest salvos in the saga that began almost a year ago when 385 Adamston LLC filed an application with the zoning board to operate a medical marijuana dispensary at the site of the former Ocean First bank. The proposal was loudly opposed by neighbors of the property, on grounds that a commercial venture should not be operated in a residential area. Residents also expressed concerns about safety.

Initial hearings were held, but after the state Department of Health did not choose Jersey Shore Theraputic Health Care as one of its six new medical marijuana dispensary permit holders, 385 Adamston LLC notified the zoning board it was going to seek approval of the marijuana grow house. That proposal later morphed into an industrial hemp grow facility before Galvin told Hensel the crop would be lettuce via a letter before the zoning board interpretation hearing.

READ MORE OF PATCH'S 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
• New Twist In Medical Marijuana-Lettuce Farm Proposal In Brick

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