Legal weed:NJ dispensaries OK’d by Neptune officials, but where should they go?
BRICK – Township officials and a company that once sought to grow medical marijuana on Adamston Road have reached a settlement that ends the company’s two-year long lawsuit.
On Wednesday, the Township Council agreed to a $25,000 payment to 385 Adamston LLC, a company that proposed converting a former bank into a medical marijuana farm and dispensary in 2018.
Facing public opposition and failing to obtain a state dispensary license, the company later amended its application and proposed growing lettuce. After the Brick Board of Adjustment rejected the lettuce proposal, saying indoor farming was not considered a protected form of farming in Brick, 385 Adamston LLC sued the board and township in Superior Court, Ocean County. Company representatives said the board’s rejection violated their right to farm.
Attorney Edward Liston, who represented opponents of the lettuce proposal, said at the time that the lettuce proposal was a “Trojan horse waiting for a change in the law so they can do what they set out to do in the beginning.”
385 Adamston LLC justified the change by citing the year-round demand for leafy greens.
The Township Council’s approval of the settlement agreement ends the two-year dispute.
Brick officials have taken other steps to deter legal marijuana companies from opening in the township. In April, the Council adopted an ordinance that bans businesses that sell, manufacture or distribute legal weed from operating within the township. The five-year ban applies to commercial cultivation, cannabis establishments, manufacturing of marijuana products, delivery services and wholesalers. The ban can be lifted before the five years are over.
Related:Brick prohibits businesses from selling, manufacturing or distributing marijuana for five years
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
