Three new cannabis businesses coming to West Milford

Three separate resolutions submitted to the Township of West Milford Council for action this week support the opening of three new cannabis retail businesses. Since the cannabis control laws were adopted, Mayor Michele Dale and the council have been optimistic that the new industry will provide substantial financial and social benefits to the township.

One proposed retail business location is for Canabhang LLS at 24 Marshall Hill Road, in a building between Ridge Road and West Shore Lane, across the road from the shopping center. The building is the former location for P & A Computers and VapeLite. Another cannabis retail business called Mr. Happy Face proposes to open a shop at 2019f Greenwood Lake Turnpike, a store in the string of businesses south of Stainsby Road. A third new cannabis business known as Elevated Herb LLC would open at 1846 Route 23 in Newfoundland.

Each of the three resolutions before the council note that on Jan. 18, 2010, then-Governor Jon Corzine signed the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act that provided for the legalization of medical marijuana and creation of a program to allow persons suffering from qualifying debilitating medical conditions to obtain medical marijuana in a safe, timely, compassionate manner.

The resolutions go on to say that in 2018 the state amended the regulations to expand the scope of citizens to whom medical marijuana may be prescribed and made it more accessible and available to the many citizens who need it.

On Nov. 3, 2021, the marijuana legalization amendment was approved by New Jersey voters that legalized the possession and use of cannabis for residents 21 years and older.

In March the Council amended two ordinances to allow cannabis businesses to operate as a permitted use in all township zones except residential. During a discussion Councilman Michael Chazukow said that by passing laws to control cannabis activities in the township, the council was giving enforcement agencies the control power they need, which is what residents, in so many words, have been asking for. He noted that cannabis is medicine for some people suffering from cancer and other diseases.

Last month the council passed a resolution supporting the Fu Mei Farm Corporation’s application to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for a Micro Business Class I Cannabis cultivator license at property on Burnt Meadow Road. The council also adopted a resolution to endorse Robert Martis’s interest in siting a retail cannabis depository at Block 5701 lot 7 on Marshall Hill Road.