At the Sweetspot Dispensary on White Horse Road in Voorhees, customers place their orders at the counter. A lighted menu board of marijuana types and prices is on the wall. The order is prepared behind the wall and handed through cubbyholes in a bag to the budtender. Sweetspot opened last November for medical customers and held an opening celebration for recreational customers on June 10.
Deciding to move slowly in the newly legalized recreational marijuana industry, the Cherry Hill Township Council two years ago voted to ban cannabis businesses from operating within town borders.
Other area municipalities, such as Mount Laurel, Evesham and Voorhees, have invited in the cannabis trade. Marijuana stores have opened or are ready to open in each of those communities.
Cherry Hill, the largest municipality in South Jersey, now is ready to explore cannabis.
"It will be a very thoughtful process with an emphasis on mitigating any impact on our neighborhoods and, quite frankly, learning from neighboring towns who have chosen to opt in right away," Council President David Fleisher told Council members at the meeting on Monday, June 26.
A public forum to discuss cannabis businesses will be held after the Council's meeting on July 10. The Council moved up the meeting to 6:30 p.m. and the forum is expected to begin at 7 or after.
Fleisher emphasized the July 10 session — during a heavy summer vacation season — will be the first of several opportunities for discussion before a decision is made.
"July 10 just gets the ball rolling regarding public input," Fleisher said, noting there are no votes scheduled on the cannabis decision.
The council president, who is a candidate for mayor in this November's election, noted that about 70% of the municipalities in the state have not authorized cannabis sales within their borders.
At stake is a local cannabis transfer tax of up to 2% that a municipality can impose on marijuana sales.Â
The six classes of recreational marijuana businesses are: cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor (transporting cannabis from one business to another), retailer and delivery (courier services for consumers).
Over the last two years, the focus has been on cannabis retailers. The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission has issued dozens of conditional licenses to mostly retail applicants and, more slowly, has granted annual licenses, which allow the business to open its doors.
Part of the state application process requires the potential business to demonstrate that a municipality will welcome it to town. A township council will formally endorse the applicant. Then the business applies to a municipal planning or zoning board to operate, showing its agreement with a landlord for a specific address, with design plans.
One of the first to open in the 70and73.com area was the Sweetspot Dispensary on White Horse Road in Voorhees. The dispensary, next to the Olive Garden restaurant, held a recreational sales opening celebration on June 10. It has been filling medical customers' orders since last November.
Other retailers nearing an opening are Highway 90 near the intersection of Routes 70 and 73 in Marlton and daylite cannabis on Route 73 in Mount Laurel near the Church Road intersection.
For early entrant Mount Laurel, the road to marijuana businesses in town has had a few bumps.
The Township Council this month threatened to revoke its endorsement of daylite cannabis over how security measures should be implemented. The revocation was pulled from the Council agenda at the last minute and the Township and the business reportedly were reopening discussions.
A new Mount Laurel ordinance detailing security precautions for cannabis retailers and a limit on the number in the township was approved on the first reading at the June 13 meeting. A public hearing and final vote likely will be held at the Council's July 11 meeting, although no agenda has been posted.
A marijuana row of retailers in Mount Laurel on Route 73 has been approved by the Township's zoning or planning boards. One retailer would be in a vacant restaurant on Route 73 next door to daylite cannabis. Another, on the same block on Route 73, would open in the former Sage Diner.
Cherry Hill Council President Fleisher mentioned how his Township hopes to learn from the lessons of the early adopters.
Those towns are "in the middle of their learning curve right now" and Cherry Hill will "observe what's working and what's not before we move forward."
The July 10 informational session will include a presentation on the legal cannabis situation in the state, followed by public input and a chance for questions and answers, Fleisher said.
As we've said right along, Fleisher told Council, "if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right."
