At its most recent meeting, Haddonfield’s board of commissioners approved an ordinance, upon second and final reading, dealing with zoning issues for medical marijuana businesses that may seek to operate in the borough.
Chapter 135 of the Code of the Borough of Haddonfield deals with various issues surrounding land development. Ordinances regarding that chapter were previously approved based on residential lot definitions, or language alterations to existing code.
However, due to the expansion of awarding medical marijuana permits from Gov. Murphy, the code required an additional ordinance to allow the inclusion of businesses in the downtown area that promote marijuana for medical use.
“We do have some businesses that have reached out, and are interested in putting a medical marijuana store in town. And so, what you have done here, is you have just dedicated where those could go, if someone decides to try and put one of those in town,” explained borough administrator Sharon McCullough.
“So what we did is, (we made it so) you could put one on the ground floor in the D3 area. The idea was to keep (these businesses) off the highway and try and keep it away from residential as much as possible.”
According to the borough’s zoning map, the main D3 zoning area is a small corridor, predominantly located on Tanner Street, with Mechanic Street and a sliver of Kings Highway included. There is also a small patch of D3 on Haddon Avenue south of Kings Highway, as well as on Ellis Street.
“It’s pretty much the outskirts of downtown, not the heart of downtown. If somebody chooses to come in for a license and gets that spot, it would be something that would be allowable use,” said Commissioner Jeffrey Kasko.
Licenses for medical marijuana businesses, according to Kasko, are issued through the state and not by the borough or county governments.
“My understanding is that the recent expansion by this governor means that dozens more will be available around the state. I know there’s one in Bellmawr right now which was one of the original four or five. Now the expansion from the state is going to allow, and don’t quote me on the number, several thousand more around the state. I believe there’s a limit as far as geography, like a certain number per county, or per legislative district,” he added.
Also during the meeting, commissioners voted to authorize a renewed membership in the Southern New Jersey Regional Employee Benefits Fund.
“That’s a self-insurance group that we work through for our health insurance that we use in Haddonfield. Over time, this has saved us millions of dollars. And this is part of our three-year re-up with them, where we’ll continue to save money. I think this year, we actually had no increase in our medical costs, which is kind of unheard of in this day and age due to the inflation which takes place in that area,” said Mayor Neal Rochford.
According to Rochford, members of the fund are found in municipalities throughout the tri-county region, but the nucleus is within Camden County.
“Every once in a while we have checked it against the state’s plan, and we’ve found in the past that the state plan, their pharmaceutical benefits are less costly, but we found that it was better on the medical side in our group. We kind of had to weigh the two against each other,” Rochford said when asked if the borough ever compared other health plans with their current one.
In other news:
- Judy Greenburg was honored with a proclamation by commissioners after her announcement she would be stepping down from the Municipal Alliance, for which she had worked since 2007 and most recently served as chairperson. Vice chair Melissa Wheatcroft was selected to take Greenburg’s place.
- Commissioners approved a resolution to amend the borough’s contract with North American Pipeline of Freehold, extending it 109 days until Oct. 7. The original contract amount, which remained unchanged, was $147,119.50 for cured-in-place stormwater pipeline improvements due to unforeseen damages to existing pipes, inlets and outfall structures.
- Haddonfield Memorial High School’s new special law enforcement officer was also approved by a unanimous commissioner vote. Melissa Young will patrol the halls from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., five days a week, while school is in session.
- Thanks to a $1,000 grant from the Haddonfield Foundation, and a resolution authorizing a special item of revenue to be inserted into the budget, the borough will receive upgrades to three street signs in need of replacement.
