Opening Day Nears For Black-Owned Marijuana Dispensary In West Orange
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The race to opening day is starting to approach the finish line for The Library of New Jersey, a soon-to-come cannabis dispensary in West Orange.
The recreational marijuana dispensary received a local retail license from the West Orange Town Council at their meeting on July 9, marking a big milestone for the business. Its owners previously secured a retail license from the state in March – and now it has nailed down the two major documents it needs to open.
Click Here: italy rugby jersey
The Library has also received site plan approval from the West Orange Planning Board for its facility at 1-3 Washington Street.
Find out what's happening in West Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to its owners, construction at The Library kicked off a few weeks ago. The dispensary is now slated for a possible “late summer opening.”
The Library shared a few photos of the construction process at the soon-to-come dispensary (article continues below).
Find out what's happening in West Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Since launching the effort to bring their Black-owned dispensary to West Orange, its founders – Charles Penn and Corey Dishmen – haven’t been resting on their laurels as they waited for the red tape to clear. The Library has been holding community outreach events and social justice programs, such as food giveaways for in-need families, career prep programs, expungement clinics and donations of school supplies.
Penn and Dishmen also recently sponsored the West Orange Juneteenth film festival and had a screening of their short film, “Legacy to Legendary.” They organized a community Q&A session during the event, which included an expert panel of women of color in cannabis.
CHANGES TO CANNABIS REGULATIONS
The West Orange Town Council also voted on second reading in favor of an ordinance that tweaks the local regulations for cannabis businesses at their July 9 meeting.
The ordinance makes the following changes:
NUMBER OF LICENSES – Limits the number of local licenses to four retail, and three cultivating/manufacturing
PARKING – Creates a separate parking requirement under the Zoning Conditions for Licensed Cannabis Cultivators and Licensed Cannabis Manufacturers with a limited number of employees for those cultivation and manufacturing activities based on the fact that without retail customers the need for parking spaces are “not as extensive”
Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.