GannettMike Deak, MyCentralJersey.comApril 29, 2024 at 4:58 AM
SOMERVILLE – The county seat’s first recreational cannabis dispensary has received preliminary site plan approval from the borough’s Planning Board.
Root 22 Dispensary wants to convert the Sunoco gas station at the intersection of Route 22 and Gaston Avenue in the far northeastern corner of the municipality bordering Bridgewater. The proposal received the first stage of approval from the Planning Board on April 24.
Former Mayor Dennis Sullivan urged the board to approve the plan.
“It took a lot of time and effort to develop an ordinance” after a statewide referendum approved the legalization of cannabis, Sullivan said.
“We were very restrictive in what we expected,” he said, adding that Root 22’s plan “matches up with the ordinance.”
In October, James Barr, a principal of Root 22 Dispensary along with Bridgewater resident James Savino, told the Borough Council that he projects the business could gross $10 million a year.
With a municipal tax of 2% of gross sales, the borough could annually realize $200,000 in revenue, he said.
A recreational marijuana dispensary is proposed for the Sunoco at the corner of Route 22 and Gaston Avenue in Somerville.
Barr told the board on April 24 that he expects that six months
