MONTCLAIR, NJ – The Montclair Planning Board heard only one application on February 6, and it was dealt with in as straightforward a manner as possible. A young entrepreneur in town is planning to open a cannabis cultivation facility at a former plumbing supply building situated at 154 Pine Street, but the building itself is undergoing renovations by the owner, which complicated issues involving a site plan and the necessary machinery for the entrepreneurial cannabis business.
Andrew Marshall, the young entrepreneur behind the cannabis-growing enterprise, testified with his attorney Kelly Carey at the beginning of the hearing. He explained that he is planning a “micro-cannabis” cultivating facility that conforms with state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) rules.
His business, Genuine Grow, is adhering to the rules of keeping fewer than ten employees on his payroll (an average of three employees would be present during business hours) in a space of fewer than 2,500 square feet, and 1,000 mature cannabis plants a month. Having gotten a conditional license for his business in November 2022, Marshall needs to get both the Planning Board and Township Council to allow him to proceed, which then will allow him to have his conditional license converted to an annual license this coming May and to return to Montclair for final approval and site inspections of his facility prior to starting his business.
In addition, Marshall plans to hire employees locally, with an interest in hiring autistic Montclair residents through the REED Academy, a school in Oakland in Bergen County that teaches and nurtures autistic students and helps provide them with employment opportunities. The academy would not only be involved in the hiring process, it would also provide transportation for the employees.
Board attorney Arthur Neiss asked Marshall what the employees would do. Marshall said that, in addition to minding the cannabis plants, they would mostly clean the facility. Marshall also stressed that the business would be non-retail only, with no customers permitted. The objective is to simply grow cannabis to sell to retailers to make finished products.
The Genuine Grow facility itself would consist of rooms for employee breaks and for cultivating mature plants, including two “flower rooms,” rooms meant for mature cannabis plants to form buds that can then be harvested. The plants would be irrigated by a water-drip system, with lights bearing sunlamp bulbs to shine on the crop. And due to the pungent smell of cannabis, the facility would have an aroma mitigation system to keep the odor from emanating from the building.
Marshall is also taking security very seriously, as he is planning to install alarms, panic buttons, and motion sensors and detectors to deter break-ins, with round-the-clock police access available in emergencies and a backup generator to operate security in case of power outages. But board member Jeffrey Jacobson, responding to Marshall’s plans for a small generator, was skeptical. He told Marshall that he would likely need a bigger generation than he may think he needs, and it is going to have to be outside.
Other members of the board asked about Marshall’s overall plans. Board member Carmel Loughman asked about the windows of the facility; Marshall said that would be treated to prevent anyone from peering in. And Board Chairman John Wynn wondered if maybe there might be a way to get fresh air into the building even while mitigating the aroma. Marshall said that there would air locks to keep air pressure regulated while keeping the aroma inside the facility.
David Genova, the owner of the building Marshall plans to open his facility in, testified before the board to lay out his plans for the building as a whole, which is expected to have other tenants. He plans to flatten the sloped areas of the roof to allow more rooftop equipment, which would be hidden behind an existing parapet. There would be a partial redo of the façade, which would include new doors, while the columns inside the building would be redone. Because Genova is unsure of exactly how many tenants would occupy the building, he could not answer Chairman Wynn’s question of how many tenants would be in it, hence Genova cannot say how many air-conditioning units would be required for the roof. Chairman Wynn was afraid that the building renovation, which is separate from Marshall’s business plans, would be done on a piecemeal basis. Jacobson then asked what would happen if it should turn out that the new backup generator is needed and the site plan is not approved, and Planning Director Janice Talley said that a new plan would have to be submitted.
Residents from the neighborhood asked questions about the project. Beth Calamia Scheckel, who lives across the street from the building, asked what residents would smell. Marshall said that they should not smell anything, and it is his problem if they do. Mrs. Scheckel’s husband William asked about filters for air pollution. Marshall said that he is planning to have filters as a backup to the oxygen systems in the facility. He also addressed concerns about the expected activity at the facility, explaining that he plans to buy his supplies locally, without any need for mass deliveries of supplies on pallets. Organic waste from the growing of cannabis would be collected once a month, and small cargo van, likely a Ford, would be used to transport cannabis to local distributors. Mrs. Scheckel, though she approves of Marshall’s business, did express disappointment over the work done on the building without permits. Genova apologized, saying that he had applied for the permits but had not picked them up from the township before stating the work.
Although Chairman Wynn said that a site plan approval was up for debate based on who Genova gets to rent his other units at 154 Pine Street, he believed that everyone had acted in good faith over Genuine Grow’s application, and he was inclined to approve Marshall’s business. Peter Steck, working as the project’s planner, said that the plan met conditions for a cannabis business in Montclair by being in the proper zone by away from Walnut Street and more than 250 feet away from a school. Residents made their feelings known, and they were positive; Robert Silver, a local commercial-real estate owner, said that Marshall had been a good neighbor and reached to their concerns about Genuine Grow, while William Scott of the Montclair Housing Commission was ecstatic over Marshall’s planed contribution to the Montclair Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The application passed with everyone voting for it except board member Michael Graham, who had recused himself. Jacobson voted for it despite his personal objections to cannabis, saying that the municipal ordinances involving cannabis and local land use allowed it and that Marshall had done a good job preparing his plan for the application. He wondered why a previously thought-out plan that conformed to everything necessary warranted a hearing. Chairman Wynn said that the municipal land use law demanded hearings for land-use applications as a matter of public record.
(Clarification: In my coverage of the Montclair Planning Board’s January 23 meeting, I reported that the board approved a report encouraging the scaling back of the Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment project to be sent of the council, “with [board member Anthony] Ianuale voting no when the report failed to include a 50,000-sqaure-foot minimum” and that “[board member Jacob] Nieman was the only other board member to vote no.” Nieman could not vote because he is a second-alternate board member; Planning Director Janice Talley said that while Neiman did vote, his vote was not counted.)
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