Red Bank board asks cannabis applicant to appear again instead of ruling on extension

The Red Bank Planning Board paused action on a one-year extension request from The Garden At Red Bank, a developer who holds a variance-free site plan approval for the former Exxon station but is suing the borough for a cannabis license.

At a work-session discussion, a staff member explained that the site plan approval from 2024 remains valid unless the borough changes the zoning ordinance, but the applicants want an extension of a two-year zoning-protection window that guards against ordinance changes. The staff member said the applicants are “currently in litigation with the borough because the borough only had a certain number of licenses to give out,” and described the extension request as premised on their ongoing lawsuit rather than ordinary permitting delays.

Board members split on the legal and policy grounds for a one-year extension. The chair noted the developer “is not being held up from building the building,” and at least one member said they would be reluctant to grant an extension to an applicant who sued the borough and thus incurred public expense. Several members, and the staff member, urged a procedural approach: invite the applicant (Mr. Jenkins, who wrote the extension request) to appear and present evidence that they are diligently pursuing required approvals before deciding whether to deny the extension.

Rather than vote on the extension, the board directed staff to invite the applicant to the next meeting to make its case in person. The board emphasized that the underlying site plan approval remains in effect and that, absent ordinance changes, the developer may construct the approved building even without operating a cannabis business; any change of use or new license would be decided separately.

Next steps: the board will notify the applicant that the request must be argued in person at the next public hearing; no formal motion to grant or deny the extension was taken tonight.