Retail Cannabis Unanimously Approved By Hackettstown Town Council

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ —Hackettstown may soon be home to a couple new cannabis dispensaries – the Town Council unanimously voted to approve the sale of retail cannabis in two of the town's zone districts at its meeting Thursday night.

Retail cannabis shops will now be permitted to open in the Community Commercial District, from Warren Street to Victoria Lane, as well as the Highway Commercial District, from Victoria Lane to Route 57.

Only one store will be permitted to open per zone, Mayor Jerry DiMaio said in an email.

"Previously, Council had wanted to take a conservative approach in how we passed ordinances of this type, while the state ironed out the laws, and how they were going to treat certain businesses/licenses," Councilman Matt Engelau said. "Obviously, Council was now comfortable moving forward with the retail ordinance."

Cannabis retailers must adhere to a slew of regulations – among them, they must have 24/7 video surveillance; cannot display words, pictures, photos or drawings of "marijuana" or "cannabis" on their signage; and can only operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

No one under the age of 18 will be allowed to enter without a parent or guardian, the ordinance said, and no drive-thru operations will be allowed.

Hackettstown previously adopted an ordinance permitting some types of cannabis manufacturing and cultivating businesses to open in its Light Manufacturing District. However, that ordinance only allowed sales between facilities, rather than directly to consumers.