From the Maplewood Township Committee:
On Tuesday, July 20th the Maplewood Township Committee unanimously passed Ordinance 3041-21, which amended Maplewood’s Zoning and Development Regulations to temporarily prohibit the operation of any class of the cannabis business within the geographic boundaries of the Township of Maplewood pending the state’s issuance of adult-use recreational regulations & requirements. The Ordinance exempts the preexisting Alternate Treatment Center.
Township Committee remains in favor of adult use and welcomes working with providers who are approved and licensed by the state to operate within the Township. Ordinance 3041-21 allows the Township to make its own zoning and other related decisions once it has received the rules governing adult-use which are expected to be released later this summer or fall.
New Jersey has given all municipalities until August 21 to opt-out of adult-use without knowing the expected forthcoming parameters which the Cannabis Regulatory Commission is charged with implementing in the coming months.
By opting out now, Maplewood will be able to wait until rules and regulations are published at the state level before opting back in. This decision was recommended to the Township Committee by both the Planning Board and the Township’s Working Group on Cannabis, which is composed of residents and elected officials and aims to shape the future of cannabis use within Maplewood. New Jersey’s League of Municipalities also recommended that its members opt out for the time being, in order to preserve local governments’ rights to govern adult-use recreational cannabis sales within their communities.
As the Cannabis Regulatory Commission releases its official industry rules and regulations, Maplewood’s Township Committee intends to revisit the conversation to determine how to best support recreational adult-use within the Township.
