As Atlantic City restaurants and retail businesses close, hopeful cannabis operators line-up to take over the empty spaces.
Atlantic City Bar and Grill is the next business in line converting into a weed biz; a cannabis retail shop with a ‘consumption’ lounge was approved by the CRDA, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority on OCT 22.
Atlantic City currently has 9 cannabis operations. To date, 31 applications have already been approved with another 20 on deck awaiting CRDA OK.
Can legal cannabis survive in a town where one can purchase and consume weed on the boardwalk for half the price? You can’t buy legal weed on the Boardwalk, but you can purchased pot illegally, often from underage teens who face virtually no criminal penalty if caught.
On OCT 22, five cannabis applications were approved by CRDA.
- Tambre LLC: Retail & consumption at 1217 Pacific Ave
- Farmers NJ: Dispensary: 1618-1622 Pacific Ave.
- Mr. Nice Guys: 1622 Atlantic Ave., Manufacture, Retail, Delivery.
- Juniper Lane Cannabis. Dispensary, 2305 Atlantic Ave.
- Slamn Sammy’s: Dispensary, 2616 Pacific Ave.
Will weed save Atlantic City? Did casino gaming help AC?
CRDA lacks basic transparency. Who’s responsible?
- CRDA Executive Director; Eric Scheffler
- CRDA Planning Director; Lance Landgraf
- NJ DCA Rep; Chris Brown
- CRDA Chairman; Mo Butler
- Entire CRDA Board of Directors
CRDA still dismissing requests to provide live ZOOM video of CRDA meetings with video archive on YouTube.
Residents also want CRDA meetings to be held at a more convenient time and location that can handle larger crowds. The CRDA board room p Pennsylvania Ave is too small to handle more than 25 public attendees.
Tuesday CRDA meetings at 2p in a small room with limited parking does not show good faith. CRDA meetings should be held at spacious CITY HALL at 5p where audio and video is provided for those who want to watch remotely.
Only one CRDA board member out of 17 is from Atlantic City; that member is Mayor Marty Small.
Mr. Small is currently facing charges along with his school boss wife, LaQuetta, for allegedly abusing their teenage daughter.
CRDA, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is made up of 16 non-Atlantic City residents. Only one CRDA member is from AC, that would be Mayor Marty Small.
Why does CRDA accept so many applications? Each one brings $25,000 to city coffers.
Mayor Small pushing for Atlantic City to expand it’s cannabis “green zone”. Small wants Albany Ave and potentially Chelsea and Lower Chelsea to embrace pot shops.
Once ok’d by Landgraf and CRDA, the New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) must then approve. The CRC facing criticism for weak adherence to social justice promises made by Gov. Murphy.
Landgraf claims he can’t reject a planning application for so-called ‘permitted’ uses. Interesting to note that Landgraf helped craft current zoning law / Master Plan within AC’s Tourism District.
CRDA’s Landgraf and former NJ Senator Chris Brown are from neighboring Ventnor. Brown (R) in 2021, stepped down before his senate term was up. Why? Maybe to accept a $150k position from NJ Gov Murphy? Ventnor’s Chris Brown now represents the NJ DCA, State Department of Community Affairs, reporting to NJ Gov Phil Murphy.
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It will all be done in the dark, and the public and residents will have no say in the outcome. The big guns who hide behind their meetings will pass whatever they want and the city will suffer, as it did after the failing casinos candidate trump brought. So get ready for more money losses.
Fools. They have no vision for Atlantic City. A plot to oversaturate the community with weed stores.
If it’s such a good look for the city and community, and there’s a need for service and it grows the community and cut taxes…. why haven’t Ventnor, Margate, Longport and Somers Point jumped on the gravy train?
Everyone overlooking all these so called weed shops within 1,000 ft of drug free school zone.
I remember back in the late 70’s, early 80’s, AC Mayor Usry and his corrupt administration pushed liquor stores out the school zone saying it was a bad look.
But weed is OK near our schools? 😈 EVIL PEOPLE.
9 cannabis operations in a depressed community that has shootings daily! What could go wrong?!
Many of them will also go bankrupt. People can barely afford necessities and these places not only competing with that factor but also with themselves.
The whole island is going to sh-t. This will eventually impact all of north beach.
Landgraf is corrupt just like all the other politicians. He should be ashamed and fired.
Remember Atlantic city was poor a ghost town no jobs 😢 then the casino’s were coming. more jobs the good life.
then so say the mob was going to have there hands in it but it wasn’t.
they build resorts then another and a another. the gambling addiction they gave money for that.
then prostitution ran wild on pacific ave and inside the casino. then the bubble bust
Takeovers bankruptcies layoffs union strikes
Now Casinos say there not making money. city tax collection is down
No place to buy groceries, homeless people on the streets. so I guess we have to sell weed to make up our income.
it’s mighty strange they locked up young kids for selling drugs to survive.
now they need it to develop the city
EVIL 😈 PEOPLE
Party Marty the (alleged) child beater has done so many things to destroy this city and the cannabis push proves it. He wants to expand the zone into a neighborhood that is against it.
I’ve heard some dispensaries are struggling yet he wants more.
AC Mayor Small needs to be removed. CRDA has made so many mistakes and giving into Marty Small makes them complicit.
Weed shops?! Atlantic City is already a scary dump, and they want to bring more riff raff into the city?! What a waste of a coastal town. This is taking the city in the wrong direction! Why would they do this? Something is not adding up?!
SMH.
Casino gambling was going to be the answer.
And they pretty much messed that up.
Missed opportunities after missed opportunities.
Weed shops?
The city still has not hit rock bottom.
Maybe they should try what Disney World does for some family visitors.
They host year round elementary and high school tournaments.
Could throw in baseball tournaments.
Try something positive.
All about money. Zero regard for the health and well being of the people. They are just legalized drug pushers. Poor quality leadership. Stockton Umiversity big on cannabis too. Dump them in with these other losers.
Curious what your position on the excessive number of bars and liquor stores in AC. Alcohol is far more damaging and risky that marijuana. Go ahead, I’ll wait for your answer.
Saw 2 kids smoking a joint in front of $General on Ventnor Ave this morning. And the Ventnor cronyism goes on.