CRC Letter - Story Dispensary
February 8, 2023
NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission
Dianna Houenou, Chair
Sam Delgado, Vice Chair
Charles Baker, Commissioner
Maria Del Cid-Kosso, Commissioner
Krista Nash, Commissioner
Jeff Brown, Executive Director
Kelly Anderson-Thomas, Deputy Executive Director
Christopher Riggs, Chief Counsel
RE: Story Dispensary Hoboken (51-53 14th Street)
Dear NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission:
We are a group of concerned citizens in Hoboken and want to bring to the CRC’s attention several issues with Story Dispensary of Hoboken (“Story”), an LLC, which has or will be applying for a Class 5 retail cannabis license. The proposed location for this dispensary is the bottom floor of a condominium building.
It has been almost a year since Story submitted its first application for municipal approval and at every step of the process Story has proven not to be an honest actor, in fact, it has been the opposite. The principals behind Story have worked to obtain municipal approvals by acting behind closed doors and using their political contacts to deceive the residents of Hoboken, approving authorities and the State.
Story has purported to be a minority/diversity owned business, but we have evidence Story is sponsored by a well-known out of state cannabis executive, Jason Vedadi, who is advised by NJ Assemblyman, Raj Mukherji, through his multi-state cannabis advisory business, CannTech. Story’s ownership structure includes a financial benefit to Jersey City Mayor and presumptive gubernatorial candidate, Steve Fulop, his family and friends. This is all at the expense of Hoboken residents who have vehemently opposed this application from the start but have been disregarded throughout the process.
For the following reasons, we ask that the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission investigate this matter and deny the Story Dispensary Hoboken LLC’s application for a cannabis state license:
Story Dispensary Hoboken is under litigation. Currently, Condo Association 51-53 14th Street, representing seven residential condominium owners, has filed a lawsuit against Story Dispensary and the property owner, Fulop/Nussbaum LLC (docket #HUD-C-49-22), Jaclyn Fulop, the Mayor of Jersey City, Steve Fulop’s wife and Drew Nussbaum, director of Coalition for Progress, a super PAC linked to Fulop. It is a five count claim: Declaratory Judgment, Injunctive Relief, Nuisance, Common Law Fraud and Civil Conspiracy. (Document was attached.)
In addition, the Condo Association 51-53 14th Street has filed a separate lawsuit against the Hoboken Planning Board and Story Dispensary (docket #HUD-L-004136-22). (Document was attached)
Story’s ownership structure is deceptive. Story Dispensary is applying for a state license and representing themselves as a minority, female-majority owned local operation, which isn’t the case. During the discovery process of the aforementioned litigation, it was revealed that a new LLC entered the ownership structure. This new LLC, called NJRE 5153 14th LLC, is a Wyoming limited liability company owned by Jason Vedadi, former Chairman of Harvest Health. This business arrangement went into effect after the Hoboken Cannabis Review Board approved Story Dispensary.
Political figures are involved and are expected to financially benefit. Also discovered during litigation, Mayor Steve Fulop, his wife, Jaclyn, and his business partner, Drew Nussbaum, stand to make $1 million dollars from this business arrangement. The Vedadi LLC has a lease/buyout option with the property owners Fulop/Nussbaum LLC which would give Fulop/Nussbaum a $1 million profit in a little over a year. This would make Vedadi the landlord, tenant and sponsor of Story Dispensary of Hoboken. Coincidentally, this buyout option corresponds to the time that Story would receive its cannabis approvals from your commission.
In addition, Raj Mukherji, the Assemblyman and State Senatorial candidate for LD32 which includes both Hoboken and Jersey City, brokered the transaction, bringing these parties together using his cannabis advisory business CannTech. He helped author the lease/buyout agreement and represented Vedadi, serving as his attorney before Story started its municipal application process. (Notable, Murkherji’s company, CannTech, also represents Story Dispensary of Springfield, which received a Class 5 license from your commission in June 2022.)
Political influence has been at the center of this application from the beginning. There has been a heavy political hand pushing through this application despite widescale resident opposition. For example, the zone of the proposed dispensary location was included in Hoboken’s opt-in ordinance for the first time, put forth by Councilman Russo, without full disclosure or transparency from Hoboken’s administration to the City Council or neighboring residents prior to approval. The Hudson County Planning Board, having jurisdiction over roads and sewers, approved the location of the dispensary after a four-hour meeting despite an admitted inadequate traffic study. The city and county quickly approved the placement of a loading zone in front of the dispensary, despite dismissing a loading zone request from the post office, which has been located next door to the proposed dispensary for 25 years.
The residents have been strongly opposed to this location but have been dismissed. The surrounding neighbors of this dispensary were never notified and discovered just two days before the Hoboken Cannabis Review Board (CRB) meeting that a cannabis dispensary was being considered for that location. Over 100 residents attended the meeting, nearly all of whom opposed the application. Nevertheless, the three person CRB made up of two members of the city administration and Councilman Mike Russo approved it. As a result, over 2,000 residents signed a petition opposing the dispensary. PETITION
The Planning Board hearings spanned five months and 25 hours with local residents showing up to lay out detailed well-researched conditional use issues. Story has put forth inconsistent traffic, operational and transaction data, which makes their business model questionable and possibly places the neighborhood at risk. Nevertheless, the Hoboken Planning Board approved the applicant, completely ignoring compelling opposition arguments made by the residents.
The City Council narrowly approved Story’s application in what was seen as a political 5:4 vote, with some members of City Council who went as far as to use a fantastical “silent majority” argument to legitimize their approval of the controversial dispensary, claiming that people who favored the project existed but had not shown up to express support. It is notable to point out that Councilman Russo voted in favor of Story after receiving two weeks earlier a $1,000 donation to his campaign from a PAC affiliated with Mayor Fulop.
This has been a long and painful process for many Hoboken residents, especially to the residents of the Condo Association 51-53 14th Street. New Jersey and Hoboken citizens overwhelmingly legalized marijuana and support rectifying the social injustice that have occurred. That being said, given that four other cannabis dispensaries have already been approved in our one mile square town, this is not a case of “not in my backyard.” Residents should not be adversely affected for the financial and political benefit of actors who have repeatedly lied to the community and shamelessly claim they are acting in the name of “social justice.”
Regards,
Erik Aarts
Berj Akain
Suzanne Akain
David Carty
Bob Conrad
Peter Cunningham
Parker Dixon
Sejal Dixon
Jon Fisse
Dominic Frio
Constance Gleeson
Morgan Goldman
Andrew Greene
Diane Imus
Debbie Jacobus
Buz Keenan
Sue Keenan
Chris Klitus
Noreen Klitus
Bill Kron
Emily Lawton
Heidi Learner
Regina Marchi
Laura Miani
Rich Miani
Matthew Natale
Glenn Nelson
Rashmi Nelson
Hannah O’Donnell
Sam Pesce
Katherine Prussack
Cynthia Quint
Pavel Sokolov
Erin Stewart
Elizabeth Urtecho
Roberto Verthelyi
Joe Wisniewski
