2-minute read
- This Budz 4 U is suing the Haledon Planning Board, which denied its proposal for a new cannabis dispensary.
- The Wayne-based limited liability company wants to open the marijuana shop at Belmont and Haledon avenues.
HALEDON — The owner of a proposed marijuana shop is suing the Planning Board to overturn its denial of an application for a new store in the borough.
The Wayne-based business, a limited liability company called This Budz 4 U, wanted to take over the 1,409-square-foot Dunkin’ restaurant at the intersection of Belmont and Haledon avenues.
Last spring, however, after considerable objections were raised by the public, most notably from Molly Ann Farms, a prospective competitor, the board rejected the proposal. Its decision was later memorialized in a resolution.
In a 13-page complaint filed in state Superior Court in Paterson, the business owner claims the denial of its plan was unreasonable and that the board failed to consider all of the evidence presented by its expert witnesses.
This Budz 4 U is asking a judge to vacate the June 6, 2024, resolution and to grant its application.
Board Attorney Dominic DiYanni did not respond to an inquiry about the pending litigation. His law office is due to file a trial brief to the court in three weeks.
The proposed marijuana shop was to be known as The Dispensary.
Two shops opened last year under that name in the Somerset section of Franklin Township and in Union Township. A third opened in a former Staples store on Route 46 west in Saddle Brook in January. Frank Catania, a recurring cast member of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” was a consultant for the Haledon project.
Much of the board decision rested on an interpretation of the municipal code, which states that cannabis establishments cannot operate within 500 feet of a daycare center or school.
The distance between the proposed dispensary and The Royalty Family Academy, a nearby daycare center, was debated because the shop would have shared a parking lot with a neighboring Firestone auto care center through an easement.
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The three-count lawsuit states the board erroneously included that easement in its calculation of the 500-foot buffer.
The board disregarded advice from its attorney as to how to calculate the distance, the lawsuit states. If measured from the front door of the day care center to that of the Dunkin’ restaurant, the buffer is 609.5 feet.
“The board’s finding that the ‘operation’ includes the neighboring lot of Firestone is misplaced,” attorney Daniel Lagana wrote in a trial brief in support of the complaint. “The board failed to consider undisputed expert testimony offered by the applicant’s planner, the board’s engineer and the borough’s zoning official, who found that ‘operation’ means the actual building where retail cannabis is stored and sold.”
The New Jersey cannabis market reported more than $1 billion in sales last year, marking a nearly 25% increase in gains over the previous year.
The industry reached another milestone when Twisted Hat Cannabis set up shop in Carneys Point Township in Salem County in June. Its opening meant that at least one licensed dispensary was in every county in the state.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news in your community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
