NO CAP ON THE AMOUNT OF DISPENSARIES
at the September 13, 2022 Council meeting despite warnings from candidates and residents. See red box below.
"We didn't see it coming"
- Councilman Carl Wright
At a recent meeting, Councilman Carl Wright admitted that the flood of dispensaries was a “grab for tax dollars” and that the Council “didn’t see it coming” — despite candidate Ben Guy and resident Robert Petersen warning them back in 2022.
That’s why it’s so important to bring new voices to the council—so decisions aren’t just rubber-stamped, but carefully weighed with real attention to how they affect our community.
Candidate & Residents' Warnings
Benjamin Guy asked the Council (here) to delay action on the cannabis resolutions so there could be open public discussion about where dispensaries would be located and how the tax revenue would benefit the community. He raised concerns about youth exposure, equity, and whether these businesses would truly serve Franklin residents.
Robert Petersen warned (here) that the Council’s ordinance imposed “no limits on the number of licensed cannabis establishments.” He noted that 34 retail applications were already on the agenda and questioned why Franklin was poised to become saturated with dispensaries.
On September 13, 2022, Franklin’s one-party Township Council took up the question of cannabis.
That night, the Council certified every single dispensary application — 34 in total — as zoning-compliant. Unlike many other New Jersey towns, Franklin’s ordinance set no cap on how many dispensaries could operate here.
The Council’s reasoning?
They claimed the state of NJ would only approve a small number of licenses and that local limits weren’t necessary.
“We could send 2,000 of these to the state — we’re still only going to get probably six.”
