Galloway considers, then rejects outdoor grow for marijuana

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — New opportunities for marijuana growers are opening up, but for now they will have to remain under a closed roof.

The Township Council voted Tuesday to introduce a code to regulate marijuana business.

While it was the result of months of research and deliberations by the township’s cannabis committee, the first version of the code featured what was described as a hurriedly added clause legalizing the outside-cultivation of marijuana in the township.

The clause created considerable consternation among several residents in attendance and even some concern on the Township Council. It was ultimately excised from the code, although some members of council left open the possibility they would explore it again in the future.

The rest of the code was introduced.

“We’re really being cautious here, and I think it’s the most responsible and prudent thing to do to have further discussion about some of these matters,” Deputy Mayor Tony DiPietro said.

The clause in question would have permitted the outdoor growth of marijuana on two pre-designated lots in the township. The legalization would have been qualified, operating under a pilot program for two years, after which time the township could revoke the relevant business’s license and subsequently ban outdoor growing. Several members of the Township Council indicated it was incorporated into the marijuana code after an interested developer approached them about the idea.

The identity of the developer and the location of the outdoor-grow facility were not mentioned.

Under state law, the outdoor cultivation of marijuana is permitted in a greenhouse, a hoop house or a fully enclosed cleared expanse.

Several security mandates are in place for outdoor-security facilities, including the fencing, locks and a continuous video surveillance system.

‘Dropped in our lap’

When the time came on the agenda to consider the new marijuana code, council members began voicing their misgivings about the outdoor-grow clause.

Mayor Tony Coppola said he was concerned the idea was suggested to council relatively late in the process for creating the marijuana code. He acknowledged the pilot did amount to a concession by the developer to those concerned about outdoor grow but said the pilot’s two-year length would still be a long time for the project’s neighbors to tolerate.

“I don’t mind coming out and saying that I’ve never been in favor of the outdoor grow,” Coppola said. “We put so much work and effort and the committees met and they engaged members of the community and we reviewed thousands of pages of documents. We had a working document almost ready to be finished and then the outdoor dropped in our lap at the last minute.”

Township Councilman Tom Bassford, who was among the three members of council on the cannabis committee, echoed that sentiment, saying he and his colleagues did not have sufficient time to review and analyze outdoor marijuana cultivation as they had with indoor.

He also expressed concern about the lack of operational outdoor-grow facilities elsewhere in the state that the council could study as a reference.

“The outdoor-grow facility came up kind of towards the very end of the process,” Bassford said. “We didn’t have a lot of research on that. We didn’t have a lot of time. … We just don’t know. We’re relying on what people told us.”

Bassford stressed he was not distrustful of the developer who approached the township about outdoor grow, identifying him as a military veteran he admired. Coppola said he knew the applicants personally and thought highly of them.

Bassford did express concern, however, that any incumbent business would be difficult to dislodge if the two-year pilot expires and the township wants to prohibit outdoor grow, saying the business owner could even pursue litigation to stay.

“He’s going to make a big investment in the township and on that property,” Bassford said. “But after two years, if we go to him and say to him ‘this isn’t working out,’ is he just going to walk away?”

Councilmen R.J. Amato III and Rich Clute were the other two members of the cannabis committee created in March 2022 in response to resident concerns about the emerging marijuana industry. Clute said Tuesday the developer was made aware the clause was not guaranteed to pass or earn the vote of any particular member of council. He added that there was legal precedence for pilot programs not being binding on businesses.

The discomfort of the Township Council with outdoor grow stood in contrast with its 11th hour addition of the pilot program to the code.

DiPietro said after the meeting it was right for the Township Council to put the idea of outdoor grow to a full vote, so the governing body could deliberate and give it full, fair consideration.

‘Keep it out of the sight of people’

The consideration of outdoor grow came after the township held extensive discussions with residents over the course of several months about regulating standard, modern marijuana cultivation that is done inside a facility. Residents of Blue Heron Pines had expressed concerns about the facility, with a focus on the odor that a marijuana facility would emit and how it would affect neighbors’ quality of life and property values. The Township Council, led by the ad hoc township cannabis committee, eventually devised filtration standards by which indoor marijuana cultivators would have to abide.

Bob Mueller, of the Blue Heron Pines Homeowners Association, said he was grateful for the work the Township Council and cannabis committee had done to prepare the marijuana code. He added that he was grateful the governing body decided to remove the outdoor grow portion before voting on the introduction. If members of council wanted help studying the issue, Mueller said the Blue Heron Pines community would be willing to provide it.

“If the council wants, we will offer up again and volunteer our time to help provide whatever resources we can find and bring forward to the council and the cannabis committee,” Mueller said.

The township opted in 2021 to allow for all classes of marijuana business within its municipal limits except for retailers, a decision taken under the administration of then-Mayor Jim Gorman, a Democrat. Coppola, a Republican who returned as mayor after Gorman was ousted in the 2021 election, has said he had opposed the introduction of the marijuana industry into the township.

Speaking Tuesday, Coppola reiterated that he considered the defeat of a proposed retail store in the township a victory, saying a public-facing marijuana business would damage the township’s image. He said he feared an outdoor rowing facility could do similar harm, with passersby pointing out “the pot farm.”

“We’ve restricted every way we can to keep it out of the sight of people,” Coppola said. “I just think that outdoor grow throws that out the window when you drive by a farm and it’s a pot farm. To me, it just doesn’t make any sense why we would rush into that.”

Coppola added that the council rejection “was not a no. It’s a no for now.” He said he wanted the Township Council study outdoor grow further and not hastily make a final decision on the matter. Reflecting on the possible benefits, he suggested that the marijuana may be able to help struggling farmers in the township stay in business.

“I can see why some of these farmers would want to keep farmland. This is farmland, it’s been farmland in their families for a hundred years and they want to keep that way,” Coppola said. “We got to make sure that we have the mechanisms in place to do it in a way that’s fair to the farmer but fair to the community surrounding them.”

The Township Council will hold a public hearing on the rest of the marijuana code it approved. The next council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14.