A ‘For Sale’ sign in front of 385 Adamston Road. (Photo: Facebook)
The building and plot of land that made up an ambitious plan to bring a medical marijuana dispensary and 48,000 square foot indoor grow facility to Brick Township is up for sale.
On Monday, just ten days prior to the one-year anniversary of when it was proposed, a “For Sale” sign appeared on the property and it gained a listing on the website of a commercial real estate broker. The parcel, a former bank building located in a residential zone at 385 Adamston Road, is listed for $799,000. According to tax records, it was last sold for $450,000 in February 2018. Its assessed value is 625,000.
The location where a medical marijuana facility will be proposed in Brick Township. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
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Originally conceived as a dual medical marijuana dispensary and grow house, the proposal drew significant opposition from neighbors, who raised concerns over crime, loitering, traffic and environmental effects. But none were stronger in holding up the project than its own zoning – part of the township’s Rural Residential zone. Eventually, Jersey Shore Therapeutic Healthcare – the would-be name of the business –scaled down its proposal to eliminate the retail dispensary. Then, it dropped a plan to grow marijuana altogether, switching to the production of lettuce and leafy greens, which the company argued were in line with “customary and traditional” farming allowed in rural residential areas. The zoning board eventually determined that the growing of cannabis, as well as hydroponic indoor farming, did not meet the “customary and traditional” standard. The business never received a state license to either grow or sell medical marijuana, but its founders hoped a plethora of new licenses expected to be awarded in the future would include a Brick site.
Most recently, JSTHC has filed a lawsuit challenging the zoning board’s decision while also arguing it should receive “automatic” approval of a second application it filed with the planning board, under the theory that the zoning board erred in its jurisdiction and the planning board should have accepted the allowance of such a facility based on the local ordinance’s language. That case remains pending despite the fact that the property is up for sale, said Anne Davis, one of the founders of JSTHC.
The business seems to be testing the waters of the local real estate market.
Basically, if an offer came in that was close enough to asking, we would relocate,” Davis, a local attorney, told Shorebeat. “If no one purchases it before court, and we prevail, then we will continue to go for approvals as a farm.”
According to a real estate listing for the property, a buyer would obtain a 2,500 square foot bank office that received a variance to operate as such in the 1970s, plus the entire 6.51-acre plot, which backs up to a federal wildlife reserve.
