Cannabis Dispensary Is Too Close To Hoboken Schools, Lawsuit Claims

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken violated its own ordinances when it approved a dispensary application near two schools, a nonprofit group alleges.

Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis says that the application for the Blue Violets dispensary at 628 Washington Street goes against Hoboken's Commonsense Cannabis laws.

The nonprofit, which is newly-established, filed a complaint in Hudson County Superior Court according to a news release. Hoboken's city council voted to approve the Blue Violets application on September 21, according to the Hudson Reporter. This was after the city's cannabis ordinance passed.

The city's cannabis ordinance prohibits dispensaries from being within 600 feet of schools. As Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis notes, the proposed Blue Violets location "would be just over 200 feet from both Hoboken Charter School and All Saints Episcopal Day School which combined educate approximately 300 Hoboken students."

Hoboken Charter School is less than a block away from the proposed Blue Violets location. The All Saints Episcopal Day School includes a campus at 707 Washington Street, also on the same block as the charter school.

The city ordinance allows for exceptions for medical dispensaries.

Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis also claims the planning board did not have jurisdiction to review the application for Blue Violets dispensary.

Patch has reached out to city officials for comment.

Founders of Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis include parents of students and former students of the school.

“It’s hypocritical and negligent that members of the City Council would vote for a 600-foot school boundary to protect kids one day and then endorse Blue Violets which is located just over 200 feet away the next," said founding member Liz Urtecho, a parent of former All Saints students.

The group says it submitted a letter to the New Jersey Cannabis Review Commission about the complaint.

“With recreational cannabis having been legalized in New Jersey and with the Hoboken government having made the decision to allow six dispensaries to open in the city, we just want to make sure that all stakeholders' interests are being considered thoughtfully and responsibly," said founding member Jeff Tennenbaum, a parent of a Hoboken Charter School student.

"That leaders in our city's government continue to support a dispensary opening within approximately 200 feet of two K-8 schools, a high school, and a daycare, despite the ordinance they passed prohibiting one within 600 feet, defies reason and common sense."