'The World Is On Fire' And You're Worried About Weed, Hoboken Resident Argues

HOBOKEN, NJ — The members of the Hoboken City Council agreed on one thing in early 2022 — they needed more restrictions for new cannabis dispensaries opening in Hoboken.

In a meeting in March of 2022, they approved a limit on new dispensaries, saying only six of them could open in the mile-square city. The council also voted 8-1 (with Councilman Michael Russo as the outlier) that dispensaries could not open within 600 feet of a school — a difficult rule to meet, considering there are more than a dozen schools in one square mile.

At the time, business owners and city officials noted that it was unclear whether any dispensaries that had already gotten approval from the city's Cannabis Review Board, but not other boards — businesses that had already spent time and money to apply to open — would be "grandfathered in."

Last month, just a few weeks shy of opening, a local microdispensary, Blue Violets, found out they'd lost a court case and no longer had Planning Board approval to open.

Last Wednesday, the owners of the dispensary, a Weehawken couple, came to Hoboken's City Council meeting and said they will still fight to open, but that it may be harder now. They also disputed misleading information about dispensaries (see a video of the meeting, 35 minutes in).

"It seemed like a bad dream that we could not wake up from," said Max Thompson at the meeting.

Meanwhile, one of the couple's supporters came and chastised the council, noting that a recent legal settlement may now allow a much larger dispensary connected to powerful individuals — including the wife of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop — to open in northern Hoboken.

"This is a small business issue," said local resident Emily Wirt, who runs a popular donut business in Hoboken. "This is about ordinances passed at the last minute. It's the year 2023, the world is literally on fire, and we're still arguing about marijuana." (See 44 minutes in.)

Over the weekend, Thompson told Patch that he has come up with some recommended compromises.

"[We're] getting the word out about this whole mess and advocating for changes to Hoboken's ordinances," he said. "We've even made some recommendations for how the ordinances might be changed, which among other things are designed to achieve some sort of compromise for the few vocal people against Hoboken's dispensaries that are within certain distances of schools. If you've seen our post on instagram, it's clear the 'common sense' cannabis regulations blocked much of the city for cannabis businesses, and people are angry about it."

Liz Urtecho, a Hoboken council candidate who leads Citizens for Responsible Cannabis locally, said that she and other neighbors had tried to resolve the matter with town officials to avoid going to court. She said that if officials had listened and discussed, the issue wouldn't have had to get that far.

“When we brought it up to the city, the Planning Board, and our local representatives, they would not listen to us," Urtecho said. "It didn’t have to get this far; if the residents’ voices had only been heard from the beginning.”

"The City Council has the responsibility to consider and represent all stakeholder interests,” said Jeff Tennenbaum, a board member of Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis and parent of a local student.

Meanwhile, Story Dispensary, a larger business whose storefront is co-owned by the wife of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, was part of a recent settlement to open, NJ.com reported.

Read past reporting on these issues here, and watch for updates.

Read about the other dispensaries that may open in Hoboken here.