Cannabis Businesses Invited To South Toms River Special Meeting

SOUTH TOMS RIVER, NJ — The South Toms River Borough Council has scheduled a special meeting for March 2 to meet potential applicants for cannabis business licenses.

It's an anomaly in Ocean County, where many towns have banned recreational marijuana businesses. Those bans were passed last year as the New Jersey legislature was working out regulations to license those businesses, a response to voters statewide voting to legalize recreational marijuana possession and use by adults.

South Toms River has remained open to having those businesses in the borough.

"The borough has not taken any action on cannabis, and continues to express acceptance of such within the borough; all based on state laws at this point," borough administrator Joseph Kostecki said last summer.

That acceptance now is translating into consideration of allowing a retail cannabis business to open.

The borough council's special meeting, set for 5 p.m. March 2 at Borough Hall, 19 Double Trouble Road in South Toms River, will be an open house only, the borough said.

No official action will be taken.

The agenda for the meeting is scheduled to be:

• Cannabis Open House Question and Answer
• Public Comments
• Adjournment

Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters here, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.