Source: Jersey City Reporter
The Hoboken Planning Board allowed the Blue Violets cannabis dispensary application to proceed to a public hearing at its meeting Thursday, marking a victory for owners who are trying to overcome some community opposition.
The prospective owners said they are interpreting Thursday’s decision to mean those concerns will not be used to disqualify their application.
The micro-dispensary planned for 628 Washington St. has faced questions of legality due to its proximity to two schools — Hoboken Charter School and All Saints Episcopal Day School — and the timing of its application submissions.
“We understand that with this decision now made, we’ll move to the full hearing and be reviewed against the ordinance we applied under in February,” said co-owner Max Thompson.
When Blue Violets originally submitted its application for Cannabis Review Board consideration, the city’s code only prohibited dispensaries from sitting on the same block frontage as a school. But as cannabis applications began to stream in, community pushback and councilmember regrets led the city to expand that to a 600-foot radius around any school or early childhood facility.
The city’s Cannabis Review Board approved the application before the new restrictions went into effect, while the application to the planning board was submitted one day after the new rules took effect.
When a resident and councilmembers submitted a letter questioning whether the Blue Violets application would be grandfathered in, the Planning Board gave itself an extra month to determine whether the application would be considered complete and progress to the public hearing stage.
There was no discussion before the board unanimously deemed the application complete, and the board’s chair did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
“Tune in next week to find out what hurdle the city will put up for us next!” Blue Violets wrote in an Instagram caption celebrating the decision. “Will it be wrestling an elephant? A battle of wits? Calculus?? The possibilities are endless…”