Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Approvals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lodi Planning Board approves H & D Bakery resolution and conditionally approves Essex Street cannabis shop pending distance verification
Summary
The Lodi Planning Board approved a resolution for H & D Bakery and granted site approvals for a cannabis business on Essex Street, but conditioned any certificate of occupancy on verification that the site is more than 2,000 feet from an existing facility. Two members abstained on the cannabis vote and two members were absent.
The Lodi Planning Board voted to approve a resolution for H & D Bakery and separately granted site-plan approvals for a cannabis operator on Essex Street, while placing conditions on the cannabis operator’s certificate of occupancy.
Board member (speaker 4) told the board that H & D Bakery had withdrawn its tables-and-chairs request during the hearing and that the decision document includes a condition prohibiting the installation of tables and chairs. "The applicant is hereby prohibited from installing tables and chairs," the board member said as part of the resolution discussion.
On the cannabis application (referred to as Baked Rooster in the hearing), the board acknowledged variances were preexisting and therefore not at issue for new relief, but the planner raised a compliance question under the borough ordinance that requires cannabis sites to be at least 2,000 feet apart. The board member said the application lacked formal verification of that 2,000-foot separation and placed paragraph 6 in the resolution: no certificate of occupancy shall be issued until the distance requirement and other conditions are satisfied.
The vote on the cannabis resolution recorded multiple affirmative votes. For the record, the board member noted that Mr. Wanko and Mr. Fredericks would abstain; two members (Vinnie Martin and Mr. Singh) were absent for that vote.
Why this matters: the board’s conditional approval allows the applicant to move forward with site-planning steps while preserving the board’s ability to withhold occupancy until the municipal separation rule is confirmed in writing. The prohibition on tables and chairs for H & D Bakery preserves the outcome of prior testimony and is now explicit in the resolution.
What’s next: the approvals allow administrative follow-up (e.g., permit and CO processing) but require the applicants to provide the outstanding verification (distance confirmation for the cannabis facility and satisfaction of listed conditions) before a certificate of occupancy will be issued.
