Lakehurst Grants Three Cannabis Operating Licenses

A former Burger King in Lakehurst may be serving up an entirely different type of product in the not-so-distant future. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  LAKEHURST – Borough officials named three businesses who will operate cannabis facilities in the community during a recent council meeting.

  Mayor Harry Robbins, Council President Steven Oglesby and Councilman Brian DiMeo made up the borough Cannabis Committee and made the determination. Right now, the Borough is allowing one retail on Route 70 (B-2 Zone).

  DiMeo said the Cannabis Committee “met several times over the last several weeks to review the applications we had received and we did receive a good number of them for different zoning areas within the borough and for different purposes.”

  Those who received Borough approval to have a cannabis business in Lakehurst include:

  • Retail in the B-1 Zone (Vacant lot at the corner of Union Avenue and Center Street): Stokes Industries LLC
  • Retail in the B-2 Zone (Old Burger King): C3 Lakehurst LLC
  • Manufacturing in the Light Industrial Zone: Life Extracts LLC

  Lakehurst is one of only two communities in Ocean County that are permitting a recreational marijuana industry to operate within their borders. The other municipality is South Toms River.

  The closest marijuana retail facility for recreational marijuana use is Zen Leaf in Neptune Township. That facility opened its doors for recreational cannabis in June. It began medicinal cannabis a year before.

The cannabis licenses were discussed at a recent Borough Council meeting. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  The Borough had a total of seven applicants who applied for cannabis businesses, according to Ordinance #2021-06. Lakehurst is only allowing two Class 5 Retail License (one in B-1 and one in B-2) and one Class 2 Manufacturer License in the Light Industrial Zone.

  The governing body voted unanimously to approve the issuance of the licenses and Mayor Robbins stated that the borough would like to allow two in the B-2 zone, one on the easterly side of Route 70 and one on the westerly side of Route 70.

  For that to happen the governing body must first amend their Cannabis Ordinance and that will take at least two meetings, according to Borough Clerk Maryanne Capasso.

  A number of people were present at the meeting who were hoping their firm’s name would be read that night. One such hopeful was Jersey Shore Extracts.

  Also present was Duncan Delano of the Emerge Law Firm that has offices in Newark and New York. Delano spoke to The Manchester Times after the meeting wondering if there was any provision for more local business to secure a license.

  Mayor Robbins told The Manchester Times that while local business operators were welcome, there was no preference involved to grant a license based on their location.