Neighbors EHT, O.C. taking different routes; what do residents want?
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT — Members of the city’s Economic Development Advisory Commission have been working to determine what residents and other stakeholders want regarding marijuana businesses.
John Helbig, a professional planner and chairman of the EDAC, said he raised the issue from and economic standpoint after a statewide referendum question on legalizing adult use of recreational marijuana and creation of a marketplace passed in November.
“It’s seldom that a brand-new industry potentially presents itself, so I thought as the EDAC we should look at it and try in a deliberative fashion to try to understand what the state’s actions may mean for Somers Point,” Helbig said, noting they formed a subcommittee to study “what the state had done and was planning to do and adjacent municipalities were doing relative to that issue.”
The city introduced an ordinance May 27 that would prohibit all types of cannabis operations, but only temporarily to give officials time to find out what voters want before making a decision. The Planning Board had 30 days to review it and City Council plans a second reading and public hearing for July 22.
After the referendum passed, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the legislation and set a deadline of Aug. 21 for municipalities to enact local laws regulating five of the six classes of cannabis business licenses. Cities can limit or outright prohibit cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor and retailer, but not delivery.
The measure also stipulates that host municipalities can enact a local tax of 1 percent on wholesale operations and 2 percent on retail, cultivation and manufacturing.
Council President Janice Johnston said the idea behind creating the ordinance is simply to protect the city from “the state telling us what we could and couldn’t do.”
According to the state, municipalities could opt in at any time but could not opt out for five years, meaning if they allowed any type of cannabis business to open during that period, it would be allowed to continue operating despite later limits or prohibitions.
“We did that just because we had to do something,” Johnston said of the ordinance, noting the city now has time to research the topic and “find out what the people want.”
“The idea was to protect and try to maintain local control over the issue,” Helbig said, noting Somers Point voters were in line with the statewide average of two-thirds in favor and one-third opposed to legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
“We thought it might be a good idea to simply gather as much information as we could as to how the residents felt about cannabis and the various forms the business could take in the city. It was an if and what question and we’re still struggling with that,” Helbig said.
Johnston acknowledged that two-thirds of voters approved the referendum but said that is different than voting in favor of allowing the businesses to operate in their town.
“Do they want retail? Do they want manufacturing? Do they want a café? We don’t know,” Johnston said. “We don’t even know what the rules are because the state is just putting their committee together.”
She said formulating a plan to move forward is difficult without direction from the state.
“It’s hard when you don’t know what the rules are going to be,” she said.
Gathering information
Levi Fox, a member of the EDAC, said the body has met with the Somers Point Business Association to see what its members think and plans to hold a town hall meeting to solicit as much public opinion as possible before making a recommendation to City Council.
Fox said it may be held at Gateway Playhouse to accommodate more people than City Council Chambers can hold. A date has not been set.
“We are trying to put our heads together and figure out the best way to get the word out to the community and have them respond in a way that provides us with an indication as to what the community wants,” Helbig said.
Fox said the cannabis subcommittee of the EDAC will be looking at the city’s zoning map to determine the best possible locations for cannabis businesses as well as what types would be allowed under current zoning.
He mentioned a map Linwood planner Polistina & Associates made for that city delineating 250, 500 and 1,000 feet from public places was a good guideline for ruling out areas and pinpointing where they would be allowed under each scenario.
“We want to do this in the most thorough and professional way possible,” Fox said. “We want to come up with as many policy options as possible and get a sense of what the community wants to do.”
He said if City Council were to approve any cannabis businesses, it likely would not be until after the state releases its guidelines. That gives the group and the public time to meet and figure out the best way to move forward.
“City Council has been open to learning more and has charged the EDAC as a fact-finding body,” Fox said, noting the members are looking at the situation from the perspective of gaining tax revenue that could be used to “ameliorate any negative effects of having cannabis business in the city.”
Fox said even if the city were to stick with a complete ban, residents would still be able to get delivery to their homes.
He also said neighboring Egg Harbor Township has approved some classes of operations and that the unique geography of the township puts several sections of it on land bordering the city. For example, much of Longport Boulevard, connecting Somers Point with Longport, is Egg Harbor Township. The area also borders Ocean City, which has banned all classes, making it an ideal location.
Fox said that means people purchasing products from dispensaries that could be located in those areas would have to travel through the city to get there and back, meaning Somers Point could experience the possible ill effects with none of the benefits.
He said if the city chose to permit retail sales, it could collect 2 percent of the revenue to help offset the negatives by increasing funding to the police department and community services agencies.
Fox also said there could be other positive benefits such as funding improvements to parks and schools.
“There are a lot of possibilities to use money that could be coming in,” Fox said, noting he was not advocating for any position but rather just throwing out topics that need to be considered.
Fox said the committee is not taking the job lightly.
“This is an important policy question with some strong opinions on multiple sides,” he said.
Some issues that must be addressed include the type of license the city wants to allow, if any. The city could enact a 2 percent local tax on cultivating, manufacturing and distribution operations and 1 percent on wholesale. It’s unclear whether the city would have any space for those types of operations since they must be located in an industrial zone.
Fox also mentioned small-batch manufacturing of edibles that could be done from a home with an industrial kitchen. The products would not be sold from the city but made there, allowing for the city to tax the operation.
He said the subcommittee hopes to hear from as many people as possible. Helbig said the group is creating a survey that will be available on the city’s website.
Helbig said the cannabis issue is just one of many things the EDAC has been dealing with over the past six to seven months, noting it has been busy helping the city and business community reopen the local economy. It also is working on creating a redevelopment zone, trying to help with the restoration of Somers Mansion, working toward a bike-friendly community designation, trying to get the bayfront dredged and monitoring the Ørsted windfarm progress.
But he added that legal cannabis is “an issue that you can’t really stick your head in the sand and pretend it’s not there. It’s going to be here, so we are trying to do it in a deliberative way and give council good information.”
