Council extends local support for cannabis dispensary at 176 Woodbridge after tie-breaking mayoral vote; residents protest expansion

The Highland Park Borough Council voted to extend local support for a cannabis retail license for Black Brown LLC at 176 Woodbridge Avenue after abstentions left the result tied and Mayor Elsie Foster cast the deciding vote.

During the meeting’s consent agenda review, council members removed item 13b for a separate vote. That item—identified in the meeting record as a resolution authorizing an extension of local support for a classified retail cannabis license—was discussed and then put to a roll-call vote. The public record shows “Council member George” and “Council member Hill” voted yes; “Council president [Kim] Chohan” and “Council member Vargas” recorded abstentions; “Council member Hussain” voted yes; the mayor then voted to approve the resolution after the abstentions produced an initial tie. The council clerk announced “Resolution passes.” (Vote locations and the order of call appear in the transcript; not all full council member first names were recorded at the roll call in the audio record.)

The decision drew strong public comment during the meeting’s public participation segments. Mary Botean, who asked the council to “please vote no on resolution 61 and 62,” pointed to a claimed 56% increase in driving-under-the-influence incidents over the past year and urged caution. She also presented the council with a chart she said showed connections between a former mayor and people associated with a proposed cannabis operator; the chart was accepted for the record by the borough attorney.

Colleen Tyler, a longtime resident, told the council that voters did not elect to bring cannabis retail businesses specifically into Highland Park in 2020 and said residents “never had a chance to say or to give input” when dispensaries started to open. Multiple additional speakers raised public-safety and youth-exposure concerns, and some urged the council to limit further dispensary licenses.

Council members who spoke in favor of the extension pointed to existing licensing processes and state law governing cannabis retail. Council members who abstained did not provide a reason in the meeting’s public record at the time of vote; the borough attorney later clarified that personal explanations for abstention are not required under the council’s standing procedures and that rules governing abstentions are being reviewed.

The extension approved by the council is a local action that expresses Highland Park’s support for a state-classified retail license; final licensing and oversight remain under state cannabis regulatory authority. The resolution text on the agenda identified the licensee and the Woodbridge Avenue address but did not include local conditions on hours, proximity to schools, or tax‑use commitments; council members said any such conditions would be subject to separate ordinances or agreements and to state licensing requirements.

The council also handled other consent items that night; the cannabis extension was the most contentious item in public comment. Residents in the meeting repeatedly asked the borough to publish more detail about local tax revenue from cannabis sales and to clarify whether local revenues would be applied to senior property-tax relief or other programs.

The council record shows the extension passed; the clerk and mayor confirmed the vote on the record. The borough attorney said she would assemble written answers to public questions after the meeting, including whether abstaining council members will provide reasons for their abstentions in the record.