The Honorable Plant

HIGHLANDS –

In a 22 page resolution with numerous attachments, the Land Use Board unanimously approved the memorialization which would allow for The Honorable Plant, LLC to be approved for  a cannabis retail store at 123 Bay Ave.. The site  is the former Food Basket supermarket of half a century ago, more recently  a pizzeria.

Operator of the The Honorable Plant for the applicant is Elizabeth Stavola, who has extensive credentials and experience in the cannabis business and is considered a nationally recognized  cannabis retailer for ten years.

   The Vote

Chairman Robert Knox made the motion, seconded by Vice-Chairman Ann Marie Tierney, and approved by members Mayor Carolyn Broullon, Councilwoman Joann Olszewski, Police Chief Robert Burton,  Bruce Kutash, Laurie La Russo,  Mark Zill, with members  Helen Chang and Dennis Zienda absent.  Montecalvo, who was in attendance at the meeting, recused himself from any action because of a possible conflict of interest.

Under terms of the resolution, the Honorable Plant was approved for minor site plan approval with ancillary variance relief and conditional use approval subject to a number of conditions.

State Approval

The application for the Honorable Plant can now be forwarded to the state Cannabis Commission for consideration of its recommendation and approval for one cannabis retail business in the borough. The next meeting of that Commission is March 9, however, it is not known what applications will be considered at that time.

  Sea Grass

A second resolution on the agenda, for consideration of Sea Grass for a similar cannabis retail business, could not be completed due to time constraints and will be conducted at the March 9 meeting of the Land Use Board without the necessity for a second formal notice of the action.

 The Honorable Plant

Before granting approval to the Honorable Plant Plan application, the board heard and saw extensive testimony and displays and included in the resolution that all agreements and specifications must be carried out in the detail in which they were presented at the meeting.

  The Property

The property, which is in the Central Business District and the Redevelopment area,  contains 18,000 square feet and is on the street level floor of a two-story building which also has two residential apartments on the second floor in the mixed-use building which are expected to remain..

The property has dual frontage along the main street, Bay Avenue, a county road, and South Second St.

 The Variances

The variances requested include a minimum side yard setback of five feet where 0.46 feet currently exists,  relief from a maximum of lot coverage at 80 percent to permit 90 percent. Currently, the coverage is 86.1 percent.

In presenting the application for the applicant, Red Bank attorney Edward J. McKenna, Jr., noted the applicant has complied with all conditional use requirements.

The applicant’s engineer, Andrew Stockton, P.E. also testified during the hearing, and noted the adjacent parking lot is in need of repair and will be resurfaced by the applicant to provide for 29 parking spaces, including two which would be ADA compliant. Currently, no more than 14 parking spaces are required for the site and the applicant would be providing at least one (1) EV charging parking space. The Board Engineer indicated there would also be at least one EV charger but did not indicate whether the borough engineer’s recommendation for two would be followed. There would also be a bike rack and a green island.

Consumption of cannabis would not be allowed either inside or outside the building on the property, and the building is not located within 1,000 feet of a school. The applicant made no mention of location within 500 feet of a public park.  (See related story on school discussion and a public park.)

With the board engineer assenting, Stockton indicated the  applicant meets all the requirements for utilities, parking,  and other regulations including fencing plans, and  access for emergency vehicles.

The Architect

Architect Catherine Franco, AIA, for the applicant explained the interior of the first floor would be gutted, customers would enter to a waiting area with 15 seats and she is proposing a 25 person capacity showroom. The rear of the first floor would include a manager’s office, security room, receiving and loading area, and employee breakroom.  Another  two ADA compliant bathrooms would also be located within the building.    Franco said they would have a full security system, including cameras, monitors, and alarms.

The Owner

Stavola testified before the board that her credentials include numerous awards, operation of 65 dispensaries in 12 states, including 18 cultivation and manufacturing facilities. Keeping it a family owned operation, she said the Bay Avenue facility would be operated by her and her daughter, permission she said which was also given by Middletown, where she lives for operating a retail facility there.

The Store

The store would be operated from 10am to 7pm Monday through Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday. The average length of time a customer would be on site would be fifteen  to twenty minutes,  six to eight  employees would be on site, but would be adjusted as needed.  The waiting area would accommodate overflow within the building rather than outside and should overflow be greater than what the waiting area could accommodate, a security guard would manage the line outside to keep the line around the building and remain on the subject Property.

 The Assurances

Stavola indicated she did not believe, since the products would be  pre-packaged and vacuum sealed, and a HVAC system on the roof would purify the air of any potential unexpected odor, there would be any problems in that area.

The operator listed a series of other assurances about managers, receptionist, deliveries, trash removal  and security, all of which are included in the resolution.

Building owner Michael Salerno spoke on upgrading the building’s exterior

And Stavola’s planner, Andrew Janiw, P.P., AICP, noted a conditionally permitted use includes no consumption of cannabis on premises,  and reiterated there is no school within the near location but did not mention parks.

The applicant’s traffic engineer, John McCormack, PE, PTOE, said studies  show the business would generate approximately 40 customers an hour, in an average flow, as opposed to all at one time. The business would  generate less traffic than the gas station and liquor street across Bay avenue, and the traffic would be similar to what the pizza restaurant had when it was open. He said he relied on NJDOT traffic data from four and five years ago, but did not appear to indicate what time of year that data was collected.

In response to Steve Solop, one of the residents at the meeting, Stavola said there would be no profile of a cannabis retail customer and the board indicated it would be inappropriate to consider a profile, stressing its decision would be based on testimony.