Is Cannabis a Drug? Is it a drug when used or sold within 500 feet of a Park? There is so much to wonder about with the unanimous approval of The Honorable Plant at 123 Bay Avenue by the Land Use Board last month.
There is no doubt Ed McKenna is an intelligent, honest, dedicated attorney who does an extensive amount of research and takes a deep interest and concern for every client he has. A hard worker, Mr. McKenna has built a reputation over decades of decency and good lawyering. So there does not appear to be any fault or omission there.
Mrs. Stavola, the applicant for the retail business, has also long since proven her excellence, dedication to thoroughness and vast experience in the cannabis business not only in New Jersey but in at least 11 other states across the nation. She is highly successful, highly dedicated to doing a job right. It would also be certain that the professionals this businesswoman hires to make her presentations have long since proven their excellence in their respective fields. Or they would not be hired by her. So there does not appear to be any fault or omission there.
Members of the Land Use Board are dedicated volunteers, who I believe are devoted and intent on doing what they believe in the right thing for every application that comes before them. They listen well to the experts and the questioners, they ask their own questions of all the experts, and they make their decisions based on the law and what’s good for Highlands. So there does not appear to be any fault or omission there.
So why is it that nobody, nobody on the Land Use Board, seemed to know that this borough that they represent, that they make decisions for, that they volunteer their time to help plan and design for the future, did not even know the borough has a drug free Zone ordinance (Ord. O-89-26) that has not been updated since it was first adopted a quarter of a century ago?
Surely if any member of the board knew about the Drug Free Zone map they would have at least asked one question about a park. Any park. The law establishes a DRUG FREE ZONE within 500 feet of a public park. Yet in all 22 pages of the approved resolution, the word PARK is not even included. Yes, there is the word PARKING, but that simply refers to spaces to put cars, not recreational, sports, or children’s activities. No member of the Land Use Board even asked if there is a park within 500 feet of 123 Bay Avenue.
Sure, a quarter century year old map portrays things differently from how they are today. But the borough has never updated that map. Nor the ordinance. I’m sure they never dream of a cannabis shop. So if the ordinance is still in effect, and it is, and there have been no updates to it, and there have not, then the Land Use Board cannot have it two ways.
Anybody who has been in Highlands a quarter of a century can remember the basketball courts on Miller St. where the fire house is now. Is that considered a park? It is listed as such on the map that is part of the ordinance in town. But nobody asked about parks of any kind.
That park maintained by the Garden Club on the corner of Cornwall St. Is that a public park? Is it on property owned by the borough? Was it there 25 years ago but it is there now? But nobody from the Land Use Board even asked about that, visible as it is within 500 feet of 123 Bay Avenue.
Remember where the old Borough Hall was on Bay Avenue? That is now a parking lot; but it is listed on that 25 year old map as a public building. Yet no one on the Land Use Board even asked anything about parks.
Cannabis is a brand new business and undergoing excruciating inspection which is a good thing for any business. Proponents of starting up a business go to extensive ends in investigations, money spent, and experts sought to ensure everything is done correctly. It would be a tragedy if individuals or businesses, or volunteers spent incredible amounts of time, talent and money to get approvals only to have it shot down by a little error….or the lack of knowledge on anyone’s part there is an ordinance in place that could well impact a business anyplace in the borough. Yet it was not even mentioned in a Land Use Board meeting for one of the biggest businesses that hopes to open in this town in many years.
Should somebody in local government be interested enough in all these questions to at least investigate whether any of these points bear further consideration and explanation?
