WOODBINE – The Planning Board has approved a variance to allow retail sales of marijuana at the former bookbinding factory next to Woodbine Municipal Airport, paving the way for Seaweed Land LLC to seek site plan approval and an annual license from the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Michael Malinsky, attorney for the applicant, told the Planning Board Jan. 10 that his client, Chris Glancey, is proposing a fully integrated cannabis business in the airport zone. Glancey is planning to establish a marijuana facility that includes cultivation, processing and retail sales on a 62-acre parcel that includes a 44,000-square-foot-plus building.

Malinsky told the board that cultivation and processing were already permitted uses in the airport zone, so his client was only seeking a use variance to operate a retail cannabis store.

Andrew Schaeffer, Glancey’s engineer, said the existing building was being repurposed and modernized, as it was in need of redevelopment and would ultimately be considered blighted if not for the plans to rehabilitate it.

He said the closest residential structure to the lot, located at 1585 DeHirsch Ave., is 1,100 feet from one of the building’s entrances. Part of the site would be “encumbered” by the airport, meaning there would be no development in that direction.

Schaeffer said the building would house the three uses planned for the property. In response to a question from Malinsky, Schaeffer said the property was well-suited for the cannabis operation, with more than ample space for the three uses.

He said the cannabis operation was an appropriate use for the zone and that it would not burden the streets with traffic. Agricultural use of the property fits in with the zoning, he said.

Retail use was permitted, but a variance was needed for the Class 5 cannabis license. Two other variances for signs were pulled from the application prior to the hearing.

Schaeffer said the proposal did not conflict with the borough’s master plan and would support the saving of the existing building.

Planning Board attorney Jon Batastini told the board that it only needed to consider approving the use for a Class 5 cannabis license, and need not consider safety, policing and operations, which he said were already covered by state statute.

“That is not in the purview of this board – just the three uses,” Batastini said.

He said the applicant would return to the Planning Board with a site plan on a later date, when the board would consider stormwater drainage, Pinelands regulations, traffic and signage.

With the Planning Board’s approval, Malinsky said, Seaweed Land would apply to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for an annual license.

The board had no questions for Glancey, and the only public comment came as a question from Paul Gentilini of Gentilini Ford, a neighbor of the proposed cannabis facility. Gentilini asked what the hours of the retail business would be, and Glancey replied they planned to be open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The board approved a D-1 variance for the retail cannabis operation with no comment.

Glancey said after the meeting that it took about a year and a half to obtain a conditional license from the regulatory agency. He said Seaweed Land would be the first fully integrated cannabis facility in the county, having cultivation, processing and retail.

“In most other states the operations are fully integrated,” he said.

Glancey said his wife would be handling the retail operation.

Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.