Cannabis Dispensaries In Hoboken: Hearings Continue

HOBOKEN, NJ — The controversial application from Story Dispensary to open a recreational cannabis dispensary in Hoboken was to be discussed at a Planning Board meeting Monday night, Sept. 19, after being continued from the Aug. 11 meeting.

Now that cannabis dispensaries are allowed in Hoboken, several such businesses have applied to open in the mile-square city, both for medical and recreational use.

Dispensaries must get the approval of the state, the city's Cannabis Review Board, and the local Planning Board.

Earlier this year, the city limited the number of total dispensaries that can open in town (including medical) to six, and also expanded the Cannabis Review Board from its original makeup of three people (two of whom were city employees and one who is a councilman).

Some dispensaries had applied before the change was made and have argued that they should be grandfathered in.

Several dispensaries have already been approved in Hoboken.

Story Dispensary

Story Dispensary was one of the first to apply to open a non-medical dispensary in Hoboken.

But the location at Fourteenth and Hudson streets has aroused opposition. It's at the former site of the Hudson Tavern restaurant, a heavily residential area near the northeastern tip of the city's waterfront.

In addition, residents of the building with Story as its potential storefront say they were first led to believe that a physical therapy practice run by the wife of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop would open at that site.

Instead, Jaclyn Fulop and her partners, who bought the storefront, are hoping to open Story. (The physical therapy practice opened across the street last year.)

The condo association has sued the owners of the storefront, but that suit has been dismissed until the hearing is resolved. The plaintiffs can re-file the suit after the dispensary gets the go-ahead.

As of Monday night, a petition against the dispensary had amassed more than 1,800 signatures.

Traffic And Political Impacts

At the Aug. 11 Planning Board hearing, a traffic engineer for Story testified for four hours, according to a rundown in Hudson County View. The engineer maintained that traffic for the dispensary wouldn't differ much from traffic for a restaurant.

He was asked many questions, and in the process noted that he had recently worked for the county of Hudson on the 14th Street Viaduct.

2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, in whose ward the dispensary sits, said Monday in her newsletter that there are other conflicts of interest when it comes to that dispensary.

"The only thing a high-volume dispensary will do at this location is enrich elected officials and their friends," Fisher wrote. "The Cannabis industry was touted to be about social equity and justice, but it turns out it is just another way to enrich elected officials and their friends."

Read past stories about Hoboken cannabis dispensaries here and here: Pot Thickens: Hobokenites Organize For Hearing On Cannabis Dispensary

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