Is Mount Laurel creating a Cannabis Row? Latest marijuana businesses hear fates

MOUNT LAUREL – A cannabis corridor could be coming to a busy stretch of highway here.

Township boards have approved applications from three cannabis dispensaries proposed for the 1100 block of Route 73.

The planning board on March 9 gave initial approval for an NJ Green Care dispensary at the former Sage Diner. The long-vacant building is at 1170 Route 73, a corner property at the Church Road intersection.

The board also gave final approval to a dispensary planned for a former Denny’s restaurant at 1132 Route 73. That location, pursued by NAAVI Realty LLC, most recently held Oceancrat The Boiling Seafood and a ramen house.

And the zoning board on March 1 approved an application for a third firm, Daylite Cannabis, to operate at a former real estate office at 1136 Route 73.

Is there a ‘Cannabis Row’ in Mount Laurel?

© Jim Walsh, Courier-Post Cooking pots hang in a window at the former Sage Diner in Mount Laurel.

“Cool times we live in,” observed Alex Kardos, a co-owner of NJ Green Care, during the meeting.

But the operator of Daylite Cannabis didn’t share that mellow vibe.

Steve Cassidy of Medford asked the planning board to reject NJ Green Care project, and expressed concern over the concentration of dispensaries.

“It would look like Cannabis Row,” Cassidy told the planning board during the public-comment session.

“It essentially would be setting a precedent that dispensaries could be located on top of one another in Mount Laurel,” he said, noting the diner is 200 feet away from his location.

“I don’t think that’s a good look for the town,” said Cassidy, who also heard at the meeting that his planned site could be in the path of a potential connector road between Route 73 and Church Road..

Stephen Boraske, an attorney for NJ Green Care, noted a township ordinance limits where cannabis dispensaries can operate, but does not require a certain distance between them.

“Ultimately, what we have here is a use proposed that has to meet the conditions of the ordinance and it does,” said Boraske, noting “there’s no basis to deny the application simply due to its proximity to another, similar use.”

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Mayor Stephen Steglik wished Cassidy “the best of luck,” but noted, “Sometimes there’s unfortunately a McDonald’s next to a Burger King.”

The projects range in size from about 2,300 square feet for Daylite Cannabis, to 5,200 square feet for NAAVI, and 5,700 square feet at the diner.

Kardos said the converted diner would have 30 to 40 employees, with five to 10 people in management positions.

Security measures are to include basement vaults for product storage and 30 to 35 cameras inside the business and about 10 outside.

In addition, security personnel will patrol the parking lot to prevent patrons from consuming cannabis at the site.

“This isn’t Woodstock or anything. We’re running a business here,” said Kardos, whose career in cannabis started as a budtender in Los Angeles in 2007.

Kardos said the dispensary would operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but that could change if the Cannabis Regulatory Commission imposes shorter statewide hours.

The board voted 8-1 to approve NJ Green Care’s application, with member Adrienne Lewis in opposition.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Is Mount Laurel creating a Cannabis Row? Latest marijuana businesses hear fates