Cannabis Distribution Operation Gains Approval In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ — A cannabis distribution center has been granted approval by the Parsippany-Troy Hills Minor Site Plan and Subdivision Committee.

On Aug. 21, the committee met with Hudson Distribution Services, which currently operates a large warehouse at 701 Jefferson Road. At the meeting, Phillip Meisner, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Hudson News, detailed the declining business that their operation has been dealing with in the past couple of years.

"Parsippany has been so helpful in allowing us to think about cannabis distribution as a possible way to fill our trucks, and our otherwise declining business," Meisner said.

Hudson Distribution Services, which has been in business for over 100 years, has long served as a newspaper and magazine distribution company, but with the rise of online and virtual newspapers, the company has been slowly dwindling in business.

To address this downturn, the company has been working on infrastructure modifications in order to qualify for a class 4 distributor license from the state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which will allow it to distribute cannabis from the Parsippany warehouse.

The committee voiced some concern about the potential increase in operation, but Meisner claimed that there would be a very minor increase in production at the start but that it would level off after a while.

"Initially, as we load up into the process of stocking inventory, you'll see a little bit of activity, probably two to three trucks a week, and then you'll have outbound trucks. What's probably going to happen is your 15 to 20 trucks per day, and as the magazine product declines, what hopefully will be picked up will be the cannabis product. You're never going to wind up with an increase in trucks to a great extent because the product is just so much smaller," Meisner said.

When the topic of warehouse security came up, Hudson Distribution Services assured the committee that they had already hired a separate security consultant to assist them when they made the decision to pursue cannabis distribution.

Some committee members requested reassurance that no cannabis sales would take place on the property, to which Meisner responded that the warehouse would only be utilized for wholesale distribution because that is what their license would legally allow.

Although Hudson Distribution Services received unanimous approval from the committee, they must now complete all state requirements, including obtaining a Class 4 distributor license from the state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Applying to open a cannabis business in Parsippany became legal nearly two years ago, with the caveat that there are many restrictions.

Businesses are currently permitted only within certain zones in Parsippany, all of which are at least 1,000 feet from school properties and 500 feet from public facilities and homes. They can only be open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Cannabis businesses must operate in enclosed buildings with no outdoor storage, and cannabis products may not be visible in public places.

A change to the ordinance was proposed in March, and residents' opinions on the subject have since been divided.