More than a year after the New Jersey Department of Health granted initial approval to a Chicago-based company’s proposal to open a medical marijuana facility in Mercer County, the firm is expected to seek approvals at the municipal level.
JG New Jersey, LLC, which is doing business as Justice Grown, is scheduled to go before the Ewing Township Planning Board this week in an attempt to move forward with plans to develop a cannabis “manufacturing facility and cultivation center” at 1474 Prospect Street near Olden Avenue, according to a legal notice. The facility would be created in two phases, the first of which would consist of a temporary cultivation and manufacturing area in a portion of the lot that is typically used for parking. The second phase would include turning the longstanding two-story 39,000-square-foot office building on the premises into the home of a permanent cultivation and manufacturing operation, according to the notice.
The matter is expected to go before the planning board on Thursday, January 9, at 7:00 p.m. at the Ewing Township Municipal Building. JG New Jersey, LLC is seeking Preliminary Site Plan approval for both phases along with Final Site Plan approval for the first phase.
Located next to a facility used by Trenton Public Schools, the 3.07-acre property in question was acquired by Ricky Vega of Hamilton Township for $1.1 million in 2018, according to tax records. JG New Jersey, LLC is described in the notice as the current lessee of the site, which was once occupied by state agencies such as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. As part of the redevelopment proposal, eight-foot security fences would be installed.
Back in December 2018, Jamil Taylor of Justice Grown received a letter from Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health at the time, announcing that the company was one of two firms to receive initial approval to move forward in the process of opening an “alternative treatment center” in the central region of the state. Justice Grown currently operates two locations in Pennsylvania and is in the process of opening a dispensary in the state’s Lehigh Valley. Officials in Utah announced last Friday that the company will receive two licenses to operate in the Beehive State as well.
Note to readers: The dates that applications are scheduled to be heard by the Ewing Township Planning Board and other commissions are subject to change.
