Business & Tech

Marijuana Cultivation Facility May Come To This Union County Town

California cannabis firm Clade9 is proposing a large cultivation and manufacturing site in Union County.

Clade9 will present its proposal to the Plainfield Planning Board on Oct. 6.
Clade9 will present its proposal to the Plainfield Planning Board on Oct. 6. (Shutterstock)

UNION COUNTY, NJ — A massive marijuana cultivation and manufacturing facility has been proposed in Plainfield, according to a recent article by mycentraljersey.com.

Clade9 New Jersey — a California-based firm that grows and and manufactures medical marijuana — will appear before Plainfield's Planning Board on Oct. 6 with a proposal to create the cannabis cultivation facility in the former Mack Truck factory on West Front Street between Rock and Clinton Avenues.

The firm is proposing to use 17,000 square feet of the 651,250 square-foot building. The 10.82-acre property in Plainfield is zoned for cannabis cultivation and micro growers, according to My Central Jersey.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Law Insider says a cannabis cultivation facility is an entity that is licensed to cultivate, prepare and package cannabis and sell it to retail cannabis stores, as well as other manufacturing facilities, but not to consumers.

Clade9 is a prominent manufacturer that sells brands like Diamond Dust, Phoenix, Medusa and Bubba.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Plainfield has been no stranger to the cannabis world, as it approved three marijuana businesses and four other non-retail weed businesses in Aug. of 2021.

Under the ordnance the council passed, all cannabis businesses have to provide adequate HVAC air quality equipment and ensure that cannabis odors do not permeate outside the business. In addition, no cannabis smoking is permitted inside or outside any cannabis business and the ordinance prohibits public consumption of any cannabis products or consumption of cannabis in any business.

The Mack Truck factory used to be one of Central Jersey's largest employers with more than 3,000 workers. The factory closed in 1961 when the company opened a new plant in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Fortunately, 650 of the workers were offered jobs at the new facility, but the loss of 2,500 jobs was a major blow to Plainfield's industrial economy, according to My Central Jersey.

You can learn more about Clade9 and the products they offer on their website.

How do you feel about a marijuana facility potentially coming to Union County? Comment your thoughts below!

Have a news tip? Email [email protected].


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.