Residents criticize commissioners over cannabis business.
WEST CAPE MAY – Three residents took the commissioners to task about the cannabis business that has been developing in the borough, with two referring to a mailer they received advertising various kinds of cannabis edibles they say are directed at children.
Resident Chad d’Satnick told the Board of Commissioners March 13 that his daughter, 7½, retrieved the mail one day and asked her father where she could get some of the candy being advertised.
The mailer, he said, was sent out by Hello Mood, a supplier of edible cannabis and cannabis-infused products, including “rainbow Rice Krispie” treats.
“Rainbow Rice Krispie treats aren’t for 50-year-olds,” said resident Mara Lamanna, who has a 13-year-old daughter and also received the mailer.
Lamanna returned to the area eight years ago for the environment of West Cape May, which she sees as changing for the worse.
D’Satnick asked the commissioners what they are going to do to create a safe haven for kids.
“My wife and I are very conscientious people and would like to know what your plan for a safe haven is,” he said.
Mayor Carol Sabo said she did not know anything about the mailer. Deputy Mayor George Dick said the Board of Commissioners doesn’t control the mail. “I don’t know how the Borough of West Cape May can stop the U.S. mail,” he said.
“You can stop other things the people don’t want,” d’Satnick replied.
Another resident, Ben Clark, asked Sabo about her vision for the community, to which she responded that she was interested in sustaining farms in the community and in particular the 102-year-old Rea farm, where Shore House Canna, a cannabis retail store that opened in the borough in October 2023, would like to lease an acre of land to begin cultivating cannabis.
“How is this in the best interest of the community?” Clark asked.
Sabo said cannabis is a high-value crop, and the only one that would benefit the borough, which receives 2% of every cannabis sale made by Shore House Canna, according to state Cannabis Regulatory Commission rules.
“We don’t have a lot of revenue coming in,” the mayor said, adding the town has no parking meters, beach tags or other forms of revenue other than property taxes. “It’s our responsibility to look for other forms of revenue.”
Clark said the borough budget, which was introduced earlier in the meeting, showed a $650,000 surplus and asked if the town was really hurting for money. The borough actually has a 2024 surplus of over $1.1 million, of which $650,000 is being used to fund the budget.
Sabo’s response was that she didn’t expect to be the subject of a “deposition” during the meeting’s public comment period.
But Clark continued his questioning, asking the mayor if she was not concerned for public safety with cultivation being added to the retail store.
“No,” Sabo said, adding that she was satisfied with the security measures taken.
Commissioner Giacomo Antonicello reminded his fellow commissioners and the public that cannabis is still a Schedule 1 drug under federal law, which elicited inaudible comments from the public. Sabo said later in a phone interview that over 30 states have made cannabis fully legal, and more have allowed partial use of cannabis products, such as CBD oil.
Clark also expressed concern about the smell created by the growing and processing of cannabis.
“Were you here when there was a pig farm?” Sabo countered.
Clark referred to an article about cannabis production in Santa Barbara, California, which highlighted the smell as being problematic. Dick said he had read the article and believed it said that a small producer, growing a crop such as the one that would come from the acre of the Rea farm, would not be detrimental.
Clark concluded his comments by saying the borough was considering money over the best interests of the community; Lamanna characterized the support of the cannabis business as “a reckless decision made in the interest of money.”
Speaking directly to Sabo, Lamanna said, “You were biased in your research,” and added that mayor’s claims of “inclusivity” must include all people – even those who oppose cannabis.
Sabo said via telephone that she didn’t believe those who spoke against cannabis represented everybody in the community. She said there were supporters of cannabis in the audience who did not speak up.
The mayor also said the governing body is responsible to all members of the community, and the opponents did not present “good enough reasons to tell someone what not to grow on their farm.”
Shore House Canna maintains it is not marketing to children and that visitors to its website must declare they are over 21.
Thoughts? Questions? Call Christopher South at 609-886-8600 or email csouth@cmcherald.com.
