1-Year Extension Approved For Morristown's First Cannabis Dispensary

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Morristown residents eagerly anticipating the official opening of the town's first cannabis dispensary might have to wait a bit longer.

In early September, Morristown town administrator Jillian Barrick said that the process of finalizing all of the approvals for the new business, Uma Flowers, was taking longer than anticipated, resulting in a delay.

On Tuesday, the council provided another update, giving Uma Flowers a one-year extension to open its cannabis dispensary on Ridgedale Avenue.

The measure was passed with a 5-1 vote, with the lone dissenting vote coming from Councilman David Silva.

Silva stated that although he supported awarding the town cannabis license to Uma Flowers last year, he has since changed his stance.

"The path that this is going is not good. In my job, which is ministry, we help a lot of people with addictions and addictions are destructive. Addictions destroy lives, families and so for that reason, I don't want to support that," Silva said.

The dispensary will replace a defunct budget truck rental agency. The chosen location is on a busy route at the border of Morris Township, across from a former state motor vehicle inspection station, a bank and a lumberyard.

The Morristown council first approved the resolution allowing the vendor Uma Flowers to open Morristown's first cannabis dispensary in late May 2022.

Tejal and Priyanka Patel, sisters-in-law who own Uma Flowers, had been waiting for a permanent license approval from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which is expected to meet with the sisters in October.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission establishes and enforces the rules and regulations governing the licensing, cultivation, testing, selling and purchasing of cannabis in the state.

"That's where they stand. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission is going through their own sort of process to finalize their license," Barrick said.

According to the council, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission did not issue their state license until last week.

Barrick added that while the Patels have begun all of their land use permitting in town in order to speed up the process and get to a demolition timeline, they still must secure those permits.

The structure of the future building will include two separate spaces, one of which will be a one-story retail area and the other a two-story area that will house employee offices and other back-office operations.

Once the dispensary opens its doors, the business will initially be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.