NEWARK, NJ - The city has proposed specific guidelines for where medical marijuana dispensaries would be located should any come to Newark.

Six medical marijuana dispensaries currently operate in the state, and the nearest one is in Montclair. The state is reviewing applications for six more licenses to open new dispensaries.

There are nearly 150 applications from 103 organization vying for the six new licenses. The state Department of Health planned to announce who would get the licenses on Nov. 1, but extended the deadline due to the large number of applications.

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The city council in August approved a set of resolutions that supported medical marijuana and sent location proposals to the planning board for review. On Monday, the Newark Central Planning Board approved amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance for the facilities.

"The proposal would allow for business growth within the city, getting people involved in local business hopefully," city planner John Barree said before the board approved the amendments. “There's a benefit to improve quality of life for the city's residents, enhance opportunities for physical and mental health, and to continue to promote crime reduction and public safety by expanding legalization in the future potentially.”

The city council ordinance that was originally provided to TAPinto Newark in August showed that medical marijuana facilities were proposed for seven zones, including EWR, EWR-S and Port zones. However, a planning board staff report excluded those three sites.

MORE: Newark Zoning Map

The planning board staff report says marijuana facilities would only be allowed in fives areas in the city: I1, I2, I3, C-3 and institutional zones.





Those zones are mostly areas in the East Ward, which have many industrial areas. The institutional zone includes parts of the University Heights neighborhood. C-3 zones, which include major transportation corridors, are located in each ward.

A medical marijuana facility would be considered a conditional use for any permitted area.

Not every zone would allow the sale of medical marijuana under the planning board's proposal. Four different types of activities within the medical marijuana industry would be permitted in certain zones.

A medical marijuana alternative treatment center sells marijuana or paraphernalia. Those will only be permitted in the C-3, I-1 or institutional zones under the board's proposal.

Safety compliance facilities test marijuana for contaminants and would be allowed in all five zones.

A manufacturing facility receives marijuana from a licensed cultivation facility and extracts resin or creates infused products for treatment centers. Those would only be permitted in I-1, I-2, and I-3 zones.

Cultivation sites dry, trim or cure marijuana and would only be permitted in I-1, I-2 and I-3 zones.

The proposed city council ordinance from August called for a 200-foot buffer from K-12 schools, playgrounds or daycare facilities. A 200-foot buffer would be required from adult or juvenile correctional facilities, colleges, or halfway houses.

The planning board also recommended that city council should consider “equity” issues in the ordinance or any future legislation regarding medical or recreational marijuana. The board also suggested that people adversely affected by low-level, non-violent drug offenses should have priority to participate in the medical marijuana industry.

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