Story Cannabis Dispensary Approved In Wee(d) Hours In Hoboken, Amid Debate

HOBOKEN, NJ — In a Planning Board hearing that lasted into the wee(d) hours of Tuesday morning, a proposed cannabis dispensary in a residential area of Hoboken passed 8-0, officials said.

The dispensary is the third recreational dispensary to receive local approval in Hoboken and the fifth if one also includes medical dispensaries. The city has capped the number of dispensaries allowed in town at six.

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2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, whose constituents launched a lawsuit against the proposed Story Dispensary earlier this year, criticized the approval, noting that the storefront is co-owned by the wife of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who stands to profit from it.

“It’s tough to compete against the future governor," Fisher said Wednesday morning. "It was not the outcome we had hoped but I could not be prouder of my neighbors and my community who came out for each meeting to defend our neighborhood.”

Tuesday night's hearing, held in person in a Hoboken recreation building, continued past 1 a.m.

Proponents of the dispensary say it will no more harm the neighborhood than the bar/restaurants on the same block.

The recreational dispensary would open at 14th and Hudson streets in Hoboken, two blocks from the waterfront and at the site of the former Hudson Tavern bar/restaurant. The site is at the other end of town from the train station, about a mile walk.

Fisher said in a message that the dispensary still needs approval by the Hoboken City Council, which could vote on it as early as their Nov. 14 meeting, as well as state approval.

The Arguments And Suit

Neighbors in the densely populated residential area have complained about the potential traffic the business might bring. READ MORE: Battle Lines Have Been Drawn Around Dispensaries In Hoboken

In a lawsuit filed in May, the 14th Street building's condo association said that they were originally led to believe that Jacyln Fulop and her partners, who purchased the storefront last year, intended to install a physical therapy practice there. Instead, the therapy practice opened across the street. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice and may be filed again now that a decision on the dispensary is reached.

The Hoboken City Council passed a rule earlier this year limiting dispensaries in town to six. Two medical dispensaries and two other recreational dispensaries have already received local permission to open, although one of the latter is also being challenged in court.

Several hearings about Story were held on the city and county level before Tuesday's final Planning Board hearing.

In a story on NJ.com last week, a partner in the storefront said he would sue the condo association for what he called "conspiracy theories" on the dispensary.

Members of the Hoboken council have argued for more than a year over legislation passed in summer 2021 to make it easier for dispensaries to open, with some saying they didn't fully understand it.

Since then, the council has since tightened some of the rules, including adding the six-dispensary cap. However, some businesses argued that they should be grandfathered in because they had started applying before the cap was approved.

Earlier this year, Councilman Ruben Ramos explained, “We rebranded certain densely populated, residential areas in 2019 as C-3 Neighborhood Commercial to make it easier for and attract businesses that were not previously permitted, like the top-rated restaurant and fish market Tutta Pesce. They ended up leaving Hoboken because the zoning was too costly and difficult. Cannabis dispensaries were not the kind of business we intended in C-3 and our laws should never have been expanded to include these residential areas."

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