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North Haledon moves to ban cannabis businesses; council passes first reading
Summary
Ordinance #4-2021 would prohibit all classes of commercial cannabis establishments within North Haledon (except delivery services) and passed first reading; opponents and supporters were not recorded on the floor beyond a single negative vote from Council Member Donna Puglisi. Final action is set for April 21, 2021.
The Borough of North Haledon introduced Ordinance #4-2021 on March 17, adding a prohibition on the operation of all classes of cannabis establishments, distributors and delivery services within borough boundaries, while explicitly exempting the delivery of cannabis items by a delivery service. The ordinance cites the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (P.L. 2021, c.16) and relies on the municipal authorization in section 31b of the Act to adopt a local prohibition within the 180-day window specified by the state law.
The ordinance text states that failing to adopt local regulations within the statutory window would otherwise trigger conditional uses in some zones for a five-year period; the council's stated rationale in the meeting minutes was to preserve time to review municipal impacts and legal issues before allowing commercial cannabis operations. The clerk recorded that the ordinance passed first reading and will be considered for final passage on April 21, 2021. Council Member Donna Puglisi cast the single recorded negative vote.
Why it matters: Under P.L. 2021, c.16 municipalities have a limited period to adopt local rules or prohibitions governing the location and classes of cannabis businesses. North Haledon's ordinance chooses to prohibit commercial cannabis land uses now while preserving the council's ability to revisit the issue after the statutory period.
What happens next: The ordinance will be published for public notice and returned to the council for final adoption at the April 21 meeting; any municipal prohibition must comply with the Act's timelines and state law.
Provenance: The ordinance text and the council's roll-call vote are recorded in the municipal minutes for SEG 222 through SEG 243.
