EDITOR’S NOTE: On Dec. 4, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a networking event in Red Bank, featuring a key lawmaker and business leaders in the medical marijuana and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited.

As mayors grapple with the ways cannabis businesses would affect their towns, they’re now worried about exactly what will happen now that legislative leaders have decided to leave legal weed up to the voters in a ballot question next year.

But industry insiders say local leaders still hold power in shaping their towns’ policies — maybe even more than they think.

It was a hot topic during for three hours at the League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City Wednesday as a panel touched on medicinal and recreational marijuana. Some expressed disappointment with the ballot question, others found reasons to be optimistic. But some still felt confused and wary of losing what little control bill would have given them.

“The mayors are really one of the more integral players in this debate,” said Bill Caruso, a lobbyist with Archer Public Affairs. “Sometimes our mayors don’t realize the power that they wield in Trenton.”

Lawmakers have worked for more than a year to pass a bill legalizing marijuana, one of Gov. Phil Murphy’s campaign promises. While the state Assembly had enough votes to pass the measure, the state Senate fell a few short in March. Neither house took any votes.

But legal weed advocates became hopeful again last month when Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he would make a second run at convincing lawmakers to support the proposal during the lame-duck legislative session that ends in mid-January.

That all changed Monday, when news came that there would be no vote, surprising other lawmakers, advocates and local leaders.

“The last year was spent in the trenches,” said Colleen Mahr, mayor of Fanwood and the outgoing president of the League of Municipalities.

So much work had gone into making the best bill possible, she said, and it disappointed her to see it replaced with a yet-to-be written “vague” amendment that will leave unanswered questions about revenue, social justice and the new industry’s impact.

Fruqan Mouzon, an attorney specializing in cannabis law, called the bill “a masterpiece” and said he had hoped Sweeney, D-Gloucester, would take it to the floor, shining a light on those who voted in opposition.

But he remained optimistic about its chances on the ballot, stressing that the 2020 election is only a year away. And during that year, the medical program will grow, allowing voters to become more comfortable with legal weed, he said.

Murphy said earlier this week he was disappointed in the decision, as a ballot question will further delay the process and make it more difficult for legislators to make changes. But he remained confident in voters’ support for legalization.

For others, it’s Garden State politics as usual.

“I’m not too concerned about the ballot question," said Reed Gusciora, the mayor of Trenton and a former Assemblyman. "Whenever the legislature can’t do anything, they just punt.”

Municipalities that do not want weed in their towns should pass ordinances banning it, he said. Trenton has passed a different ordinance, marking itself as a “friendly territory” for cannabusiness.

The months between now and November 2020 also give mayors and other leaders time to learn as other states navigate their new cannabis industries.

Nicole LaChapelle, mayor of Easthampton, Massachusetts, joined the panel to bring insight from a state that did vote to legalize marijuana by a ballot initiative three years ago.

Her town of about 16,000, which sits north of Springfield in western Massachusetts, already has one large retail operation, with five more applicants awaiting approval. Operators are subject to a 3% impact fee for five years in business, but LaChapelle said the town has held that revenue, not using it for financial forecasts or in the budget. It’s still not clear how steady that revenue is, she said.

In hindsight, LaChapelle said it’s important to define how long an operator can hold a license and to impose fees on any that leave too soon. Growing the weed industry in Massachusetts has required local leaders like her to put in lots of energy for just one industry, and a large-scale dispensary is not the kind of business that can easily be flipped into something else, she said.

Initially, many worried legal weed would overwhelm small police departments with DUIs and illegal public consumption. It’s a point Highland Park Mayor Gayle Brill brought up to the panel, arguing 2% tax revenue proposed in New Jersey is not enough to account for the problems a pot business may bring.

LaChapelle said Easthampton saw a different impact than expected: Rather than weighing police down with arrests, the industry has brought tedious safety checks and applications that leave the public works, police and fire departments with more work.

It’s that learning process that leaves some wary. Janice Kovach, mayor of Clinton and an executive board member of the league, said she doesn’t want her small town to be a part of the test, and worries about a ballot question that fails to give a detailed account of revenue.

“The bill that I thought was going to be considered in lame duck gave us some of the controls I thought we needed,” Kovach said. “The inability to know whether or not we have any control is concerning. Every municipality in the state of New Jersey is different.”

In the meantime, six new medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to open, and the state Department of Health is evaluating applications for others. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the new agency that will oversee the program, is on deadline to be in place by January.

Mayor Mahr asked Brown the timeline of the reg commission. He said it has to be in place within 6 months of the law creating it was signed, which was early July. Clock’s ticking to January. — Susan K Livio (@SusanKLivio) November 20, 2019

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Are you interested in the cannabis industry? Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips