Mark your calendars!

The next Town Hall Meeting is on December 12th, 2022 at 8 PM in the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Madison council members will be voting to approve or deny the local license for a medical marijuana dispensary at 340 Main Street in Madison.

The borough of Madison has received an application from 1st Choice Health & Wellness, LLC for a license to operate a medicinal cannabis dispensary at 340 Main Street (the office building next to Lukoil Gas Station). This location is less than half a mile from Kings Road Elementary School and Delbarton Park and less than 1000’ from Chatham Middle School. 340 Main Street also abuts 10 residential properties in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Madison.

The residents of Madison need to take strong action now to communicate that we are not comfortable with locating such dispensaries near our schools, playgrounds, and residential neighborhoods.

We encourage everyone in Madison – especially those with children – to ask yourselves the following question: “Am I ok with having a cannabis dispensary in the backyard of where I live?”

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Madison is NOT like other towns where cannabis dispensaries have been opened. The vast majority of real estate in Madison is primarily residential. In most other cities, cannabis dispensaries are usually in stand-alone buildings or in strip malls, they DO NOT neighbor residential homes.

The only way to prevent this risk from materializing is for those who are concerned for the safety of our children to persuade the Madison Council Members to amend Ordinance No. 18-2022 Section 4 Item F. pertaining to Chapter 195 of the Borough Code, entitled “Land Development”, subsection 195-31, entitled “Certain Permitted Uses” to include, “No Cannabis Establishment shall be located within 200 feet of a residential zone district boundary. The distance shall be measured from property line to property line.”

If you believe that Madison should not allow dispensaries to open and operate in residential neighborhoods, here is what you can do:

COME TO THE NEXT MEETING! This might be the single most important thing you can do if you don’t want a dispensary in the backyards of our community. On December 12th at 8 pm, bring yourself, your neighbors, and anyone who wants to protect the integrity of our residential neighborhoods to the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, use your voice and say NO!

VOLUNTEER! We need people to volunteer to help us bring more awareness to the residents of Madison and Chatham. You can hand out fliers, talk to your neighbors, and use your voice to educate and rally others to our cause. If you’d like to connect with other concerned residents, please email: nomadisondispensary@gmail.com

WRITE LETTERS! We need to send our message to the Madison Council Members and Mayor Conley. Email your council members
Here are some key points you may want to consider raising if you attend and speak at the licensing meeting and/or plan on sending letters to our council members

Family-focused residential neighborhood: This proposed dispensary at 340 Main is located on the property line of 10 residential homes in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods of Madison. The building also backs up into a Drug-Free Zone dictated by the proximity to nearby schools and parks.

1st Choice Health & Wellness will operate as a cash-only business, this is an inviting target for armed burglaries. Some cities are reporting increased violent crimes associated with burglaries of cannabis dispensaries.
See the following article for more detail:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaronsmith/2021/06/01/budtenders-arm-themselves-as-gunmen-target-cannabis-dispensaries/?sh=faf91135e02e

Madison’s neighboring towns have prohibited cannabis sales: Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Morris Township, Harding Township, Florham Park, and Summit. Why are we allowing Madison to be the test subject?

Chatham Township’s council stated that due to the “present uncertainties regarding the future impacts that following one or more classes of cannabis business might have on the New Jersey municipalities in general, and on the Township of Chatham in particular, it is at this time necessary and appropriate, and in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the Township of Chatham’s residents and the members of the public who visit, travel, or conduct business in Township of Chatham, to amend Township of Chatam’s zoning regulations to prohibit all manner of marijuana-related land use and development within the geographic boundaries of Township of Chatham.”

Councilman David Naidu of Summit warned “We cannot tell you definitively if having a marijuana store on, for example, Springfield Avenue, would increase or decrease home value. No one can, but we are not willing to take the risk on the value of our or our neighbors’ homes without thoughtful and or extensive dialogue with the community which we have not had to date.”

Proximity to medical dispensaries should NOT come before the safety of our community. Nearby medical dispensaries deliver to Madison via same-day service.

60% of Madison residents voted to legalize marijuana use. Madison residents DID NOT vote to have dispensaries in their neighborhoods or their backyards. An extensive conversation is needed with our community to understand safety measures and infrastructure before bringing a dispensary to our town.

Other significant concerns: traffic volumes intensifying, loitering on Main street and in our neighborhoods, crowding and lines, littering, decreased value of our homes, and lack of transparency about the proposed dispensary by our Madison council representatives.

 

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