##VIDEO ID:_T0qZmE-0X8## okay 7:00 I call the September joing me order please stand flag United States Amica stands na indivisible Justice for All okay pursuant the open public meeting The Sentinel and South geers times were notified of this meeting as well as being posted in the municipal building and on the township website this would you take roll please Mr Gano here Mr Leo Mr Ketchum here Mr G here Mr desar here Mr haml Mr fi Mr elus here chairman grao here okay in the absence of Mr Leo we will seat our alternate uh no none of our alternates are here right okay all right minutes of the previous meeting I make a motion we approve motion by Danny Des second by second anybody seconding the second who was that Mike Mike second Mike in favor iOS stat three statutes Jim C Richard glacius and Anthony G okay we have two applications on the agenda this evening and I think we're going to switch we're going to take Vince uh Vince Angelus first because that shouldn't take us as much time there's a lot of people here for the mytic Botanical Farms Mr Angeles please come forward Mike everything in order yes raise your right hand please just going to tell the truth about testone you're going to get state your name and address for the record please J 862 s okay Mr why don't you explain to Bo what you uh what your application is tonight uh application is to put two additions on either side of the house and one for the front dwelling to enlarge the entrance to the house the door to this will be morning3 by 15 on both sides we're not adding any bathrooms we're not adding any bedrooms we're just enlarging the space of the children's bedrooms and we're making it great and all we need is a variance for to the front Dave to the front yard looks like it can you cut you were unclear on that on that well that's what we need to hear to have some testimony on it's not clear on the application or the documents that were submitted about the size of this addition in the front I resent that back in resim the application in with the dimensions on it on a drawing that back down by8 from front I think I did see that on something I S that back in at a later [Music] date so the front edition is going to be 8 by8 yes can you clarify the side additions the documents that were submitted said 28 by 15 28 by 15 I'm sorry I thought you said 23 by 15 I believe 23 because we are not the electrical boxes so be shorter by about 5T the left hand side of the house 2 by 15 the right side of house should be 20 by 15 also of the lot yeah so uh we did a report dated July 29 2024 which we recommend the application be deemed complete this is in the pands rural residential district which requires a 3 .4 acre parcel this lot is an existing undersized parcel of 1.08 One Acres so it's an existing like I said existing undersized slot um it appears that the only variance required is front yard setback uh it's marked on the plan 41.2 ft is the requested front yard setback in this Zone you have to be at least 50 ft so that's kind of what we're up against pretty straightforward [Music] I think you should address the variance for the size of the lot as well because you have under siiz a lot then you increase the the house in the lot then it requires a variance CU it's undersized um it is pre-existing non-conforming but I think it should be addressed so that he has a complete um decision tonight so he needs both varant so let's let's go back um it's marked on the plan that the front yard set back is going to be 41.2 ft but in light of the testimony that it's going to be an 8T by 8T addition actually the front yard setback is 47.4 much closer to the 50 ft that's required that that's why I had some concerns okay that's pretty simple 47.4 is requested 50 foot is required and the undersized lot and did you say one of the will one of the addition be a bedroom no idea did you make any attempts to purchase additional area to make the parcel conform yes they were that's that might the have request by joining property owners for additional land or purchase they were sent okay and the responses were just the two variances okay any questions we open up to the public I make a motion we open the public motion necessary to open to the public is there a second I'll second second by Richard glacius all in favor I oppos is is there anyone from the public like to be heard regarding this application I make a motion we close the public portion motion to close second who was second second by Mike car all in favor iOS okay I make a motion we approve the two variant for undersized uh lot and run it second okay motion by by Mr Des [Music] BYO Mr Gano yes Mr Ketchum yes Mr G Alo yes Mr deserie yes Mr glacius yes chairman graer yes okay Mr Angel the application was approved thank you [Music] everyone okay next on the agenda Mystic tonico Farms LLC M everything in order yes good evening chairman and our application will be as and St as that maybe maybe um anyway this is a exp application uh to for class one cannabis cultivation at 183 V gr it's a farm of about 18 Acres it's in the pr Zing pands for a residential and the proposal is for company an LLC called banal LLC which we have a two minority members of that company here today we also have one minority member who's also the property and I they're here to testify that this should be approved based on the criteria set forth by the state of New Jersey uh basically that it meets the positive branch of the two BR use variants in that it is inherently beneficial but also that this property is particularly suited for this purpose and as far as the negative the detriment uh Branch we will they will testify that this uh should not negatively impact the zoning because it continues to encourage INF space it continues to encourage farming uh which are critical parts of of the zoning ordinances and the uh purpose for the zoning ordinances and they will also show that um any concerns related to descent will be mitigated this is a very small and it's limited by the state to the 10,000 ft that they're apply applying for I believe initially their plan is to start with 5,000 ft and then expand T but it is a um small cannabis bre operation outdoor uh the only real the only real changes to the site itself would be the fenses required by the state they already have their um preliminary license from the state for this operation and it requires two 8ot chaining fences and certain security measures which are all part the submitted so I know there every time there's been a cannabis variance there's been a large turnout and you know I myself have been in the audience before to oppose certain cannabis operations based on you know the operation and the location and in this case this is very much a different application from those applications this is not like I said a manufacturing facility this is not a processing facility it's literally 10,000 ft of grow which would then be free dried and shipped off so the the uh amount is very small where it's situated on the farm there are no close neighbors uh and basically the freeze dried process would prevent the majority of that M but there are several other steps that can be taken if it does become a problem and my clients have going out and spoken to all their neighbors um to make sure that they're comfortable with this so uh it's a good fit it's unobtrusive it's safe and you know we have this board to make important decisions like this and it doesn't mean that if this one is approved that every operation related to marijuana will be approved in the township it's a individual application and you know I'm a big believer and V doing what they want on their own property with minimal government inion in this case the owners have tried to plan and Factor uh basically every possible measure to protect the quality of of life and F A Township around them for themselves the family members Frank the town of presidents and just as in aide there is a 2% tax available to the township on all cannabis products produced should we you the owners are going to testify first which is William Jer and then Sergeant Jamesville and William eler all here to testify why don't we swear them in morning raise your right hand please you swear to tell the truth about the testimony you're going to give yes each one of you your name and address for the record William El Piper 7 Hillside Road West de I you up here in his Township I think I know you master s Jim wi United States Army retired uh I live at 623 Bachelor New Jersey 0890 okay thank you thank you and I'd like to call Mr Williams jker first yeah you I think you just put your name and address on the record but I you're the owner of the uh property at 1813 Prof correct yes and you're the only one of that property correct and you're also a minority member of Mystic Botanical LLC correct yes okay and you are supportive of this application fori correct yes and how long have you lived on the farm at 1813 since 196 16 in fact you uh grew up there yes went to Dela yes played on part of the famous football team that won two state championships in a row yes tight right okay and uh what do you currently form on this property uh cattle horses and chickens and is it on Farmland assess except for the house and one yes and you understand that the portion that would be used for cultivation would no long be part that's going to transfer to that use right yes and uh is it your intent to continue using the rest of the farm for conventional farm products yes you can elaborate if you want but um and is it your intent to also continue living in the v yes and why are you supporting this application well everything we tried to do farming whether it was cattle or chickens grain crops not it's too hard to make it I mean the CLE market up and down the bra Market goes up and down so we were just looking for something to help P for so your and he all of a sudden really wants to get into part PL other things and whatnot and stuff so this was the start but this is in 18 ACR It's relatively small farm correct yeah and I you have not been successful as of yet in in getting anywhere with f and preservation correct and I the in fact the size of this Farm has always required you to have outside yes I got job always had it to um like I said the market was up and down CLE like right now they're real high in 6 months it might be real low just hard to make it in fact I you've worked as a professional Ste correct yes you were years and you were the first front tier circuit Champion right yes and in fact you were one of the four Central Park Horsemen in the Y he yes all from all from uh what transpired on this form yes okay and I that tell us what the purpose of that Fen area inside which the new Fen area is going to be put uh what was the purpose of that Fen area when you fenced that was our arena for years where we practic um so now that is going to be now uh going back to your high school football career for a minute um is it correct to say it football field is about 160 ft wide yes and the end zone is about 10 yard or 30 ft correct so if you put the two end zones Just the Two end zones together you have 9600 squ fet right which is about the same size as this propos cultivation thank you do you have any questions Mr P you you said that's as as big is they're allowed to make it yes according to the state all you can have is 10,000 sare ft outside for this particular class and outside yes it's limited to 10,000 and the um I believe there would have to be a whole separate application if they wanted to do anything different from that I don't need doing on with the state okay it's not very big no just have one one question so right now you're living there and it's associated with the cannabist so in the future if you were to move or leave is this going to have to go together in other words somebody has to have the residents and the Canabis well already I don't anywhere the way I figure everything now's no in the world get security I that's all my taxes so but I believe it is just one lock and right so if at some point you know he wasn't living there that's going to have to all go together someone if someone were to buy it they would they would buy the house too but unless unless they with sub I believe that's it's all one partial and then whoever if there were new people to buy they' have to get approved by the state to operate this they would have to get a license absolutely and uh any license I believe part of the final license is getting a letter from the township recommended so there's um there's two ways that the township can restricted even once this variance is granted if it's granted and one would be not writing the letter if if a new applicant appli even for the same partial and the second would be every 5 years the I count now this wouldn't be for this particular company but the township has the right to restrict any new um cannabis operations the same way this time around they restricted I believe distribution and Retail so they would have the right and I'm not 100% sure Michael you might I know this better but I believe that would restrict any new applications as opposed to like I don't believe this would be grandfather if that were the case I believe it would be grandfather to itself but I don't believe it will be automatically for the next applicant to get their license if that Mak sense what what's what's the growing Seaton we will answer all his questions uh this bill Piper is not the expert on uh the actual cannabis operation but we will uh address all that with the other two uh Witnesses okay I can answer but it probably won't be accurate accurate other questions your next and I'd like to call Sergeant Cham bille and I'm going to try to get the computer back on the screen at this point [Music] now I know that's a little bit small so people may need to come closer to uh see what's going on there and if he want to you know to the screen to point to you're more than welcome to and you've already been sorning and can you uh tell the board a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in this project absolutely so I am a medically retired uh combat disabled veteran I cut my teeth in the 82nd Airborne I did Iraq twice Afghanistan once upon my last return from Iraq be honest you don't save yourself you don't I had serious issues I'll be real with you right now my beautiful daughter is in the office or in the office in the room she almost didn't have a dad this stuff is serious do you know what changed my life a buddy called me said you tried cats I didn't sleep for 10 to 15 years like it just didn't happen night sweat screaming my children's Mother as well as another young lady being would freak out at night cuz I would wake up freak out and clear my entire house with gun I have not done that since I started using cabinets and you're going to hear other testimony tonight from vets about the same issue I hear every day from my friends from Family from random strangers I want to help veterans I want to help veterans I want to help veterans and it's always talk I said it I want to help veterans and this opportunity came up so I'm going do the right thing I'm going to help my brother and sisters in arm because at the end of the day we have 22 veterans killing themselves a day I've known some of that it's one thing when I Buri my friends from combat who died in combat I understand that having veterans kill themselves there's no reason for it you know I'm treated by the VA I take uh give out of medication every day to help while I was in the Department of Defense still still in the service I was actually prescrib marinal which is synthetic Cas because they were desperate to try anything and it helped like these things all help my issue with that though was I was expected to drive well on it and I don't believe in any type of drinking and driving this is my chance to actually help my brothers and sisters and we'll need one of them back there Jake I'm just trying to do the right thing and I think this is the right thing because at the end of the day the state put in barriers to entry for veterans and particular one suffering from what you would call PTSD but I call Post combat stress disorder the big difference being if you're in a car accient have ppsd you wouldn't go back and do it again I would go back and play that cover it all thank you sorry it's a little nerve-wracking I apologize emotional I apologize to they are back so can you explain to the board um this this is the proposed project plan 1813 Dutch brood can you explain to them what it entails everybody see me if I'm over here yeah all right so let me get way all right so here is the frontage to the property if we use the smaller map which covers the whole property uh you can see the boundary lines go all the way around that is existing fencing as well as hroes basically you can't come into this Farm except through the drive so once you go into the farm there's a gate that gate will be locked while we're operating uh the only people that have keys are me big Billy and young Billy so once you went to the entrance you'll find the residence to the right that is where big billy lives the front here as well as the front here are pasture land for the horses once you went back here here we have a gated Barn there and I'm not sure what that is I don't think this exist we'll wait till in but I believe that's a building that was there when the picture was taken sorry about that that I didn't notice that so on this side of the farm um this is where the chickens and horses are L kept and this pasture land here would be for any of the cattle we bring in um because this will still remain as a functioning normal part so right here we have another gate which enters so which would bring you into this field right here the field right here is where PL where we're planning to farm the Cannabis so the reason we picked this is for a number of reasons and it's one the reasons that makes this a unique property to do it on first and foremost if you notice the entire perimeter of that field is head DRS there is what we call 6 to 8ot fence in that headr as someone who used to Peasant hunt I would not want to go into that head drop it's a mess like nobody's getting through that head Dr so your only entry point is right here where there'll be a gate on the farm so what we're looking at right now is one ch choke point two choke point three choke points right here is where we propos to put the canvas uh plant within that there will be a 320t business trailer that we'll be using for storage um freeze drying the plants to help eradicate any smell as well as uh any other business functions we need to take care of so right here is where the trailer the business trailer would be and the rest of this will be where the plants are so we requested a 10,000 foot license you can get a license up to as much as you want when when we look at the property the smart decision is to stay within that headr because people can't see into it it's not close to the road and it's not close to the neighbor's homes we did go out and talk to re neighbor uh before we submit it for the Zone packet uh additionally we're going to have two eight fo fences the First Fence will be approximately 1250 ft the reason I'm saying approximately is it's the secury company we work with and I can touch more on security uh we want to make sure we have enough standof between fenes because you don't want fences so close that they can go right over but that said that probably will never happen due to the of the security invol with this can you describe um the security plan in general terms I know the worst thing for Security is to lay out your plan publicly but there are certain things required by the state and can you confirm that you will meet those requirements uh yes we we have already talked to the state the state approved the two fence plan uh those one of the first things we talked to them about um the reason we're using toot fences is like the EAS way explain it the way we designed this was based off a security consultant my my personal experience securing small firebases company Outpost Etc as well as within the agricultural realm we want to look at other agricultural businesses and if you look at poultry business it's almost identical security features so we took all three of those and kind of put together okay and the uh state requirements uh for an outdoor grow area uh require fence to be constructed metal chain links of similar secure material and measure at least 8 8 ft from the ground to the top and support post must be secured and anchored as well as meeting the minimum requirements of relevant Municipal Code provisions and your fence meet your double fence system meets those requirements it meets all the requirements laid up by the state and the locks on the needs will be commercial grade is also required correct uh there'll have to be badge access as well yes but commercial everything is commercial grade and the outdoor grow area is also required to be protected by a security alarm system and 24-hour video surveillance system that's continuously monitored and capable of detecting power offs uh to ensure surveillance of the entire perimeter of the grow area and overall portions of the SEC F all and that's the actual stat L which I'm not revealing anything particular to you but your plan meets all those requirements correct yes all the security cameras all that we uh met last week with the chief of police here he supports our plan and also said he actually supports what we're doing here which we appreciate and uh again the uh residents would also remain occupied foreseeable future which provides an additional level of security right yes okay and I move before I move on to the um operation itself can we have any questions related to the the plan just that you said that the chief of police reviewed your security plan and he approved it uh he put his support behind it because I I wouldn't say the chief police has an approval in it but here's the thing we have a pace plan for this which if anyone's done their time they know and the Ean pace is emergency they're the first ones to get the phone call we don't want our first meeting if there were a security incident to be during that and if we want to make sure he is happy with it because at the end of the day there are emergency guys we need to know their confident in any other questions Rel to and can you describe um the actual operation maybe starting with what the growing season is uh growing season is same as every other farm crop uh you're looking early spring depending on weather to early fall it's pretty similar to what you do with soybeans corn all day and how you said the first planning would occur in early spring correct early spring once weather permits cuz it's like any other plant they they're only so cold hearty you know we can't we're not going to be putting plants out if there's expectation for GR and then uh when would they be harvesting so Harvest will generally take place there may be two a small one first which would be maybe end of July August and then the main Harvest like every other Farm will be in the fall and how much of Manpower would be required to harvest this 10,000 foot operation not much uh we're EXP with me and Billy obviously working there um we're expecting maybe two other people and during what periods of time would you require those two other people in the fall um with that said because I believe in being honest we're not 100% sure you made two need four people what I can tell you is we're not going to need an army of people you know handful gets it done and for what period of time what's the ratio would you need these people in the fall about how many weeks I would estimate six six weeks probably would be and would you also have um additional employees in the spring during the planning season uh I'm not 100% sure because it really comes down until we're doing it you you're guessing to a certain extent but I wouldn't see I mean planning seeds is generally a Twan job we can do it but I don't want to make promises or lie to the community with this and to the to the point where you're plan and you're you would be plan from a seed yes we're going to plant from seeds okay and is this manual or would you use equipment to do it all manual there's going to be no King no damage to the existing ground so the sum total of the we say traffic coming in and out related to planning would be you more often and they back SE uh yes and oar will be car okay and then during the um harvesting you would have have these additional people and then you have to prepare the product for shipment correct yes and that's through the free Drive yes meod okay can you tell us a little bit about that so we're using freeze drying technology for this so have you ever I mean everyone here is probably smelled the smell of cannabis and you're like oh God it smells so bad well when it's actually growing it doesn't some of it smells like fruit some smells like flowers there's even some which we will not be growing that smell like diesel fuel um I'm not a fan of diesel fuel uh so basically when the smell is strong and you you normally see this at indoor grow operations what they do is when they cut the plant down and harvest the flowers they dry them in open air as they drve uh basically what's happening is compounds are breaking down into sulur we've been working with uh gentleman named Professor uh Rob Mia he's a professor at Stockton University he is actually a smell researcher so he contacted us to see if he would be able to continue his studies on smell at this operation pending approval um his initial um Research indicates the smell of growing cannabis and this is only about a 4-we period because cannabis doesn't smell all time just thring the last portion of the flowering the smell only travels 2 to 300 ft now once you cut that down and leave it to dry and everything starts breaking down that's where you just it's almost an uncontrollable smell by freeze drying it we're taking care of that right away as soon as they come off the plant they're going in a freeze dryer the exhaust from the freeze dryer dry dryer will run through uh carbon before leaving the business Trail this way we're getting rid of the snow to the best of our abilities and just to be clear um there is no proposed manufacturing of Canabis or class two operation we're we're not manufacturing anything okay and the um going back to the delivery vehicle issue which I the uh engineered ask for supp for on on the harvesting side what do you anticipate as far as traffic in and out if you had to estimate off these 10,000 square ft you know give us an idea of how much actual product will use the farm during the course of the Harvest sizewise uh I would say probably close to about 500 lb total all of it will be transported an unmarked vehicle that I I'm more than happy to give a description but prer not to because once again security concerns um not that we're really super concerned about it it's just the best way to have Security is to not talk about and tell I mean how heavy do you anticipate the volume the traffic of that truck today how many trips do you anticipate it's uh probably hundreds but we're not talking about a truck it will not be a truck okay the vehicle whatever it is you anticipate that over the course of the four weeks it would make how many tricks I'd say less less than 100 without knowing we have dispensaries counting the minutes hoping we get approved so we'll be moving as much to the dispensaries as we can so basically you're looking at an average of maybe five five tricks per day five vehicles per day no I'm sorry no we're we're looking at probably one vehicle at most for like transporting the finished product okay that's that's what I'm trying to get to just one day but multiple times uh potentially but I was trying to give an estimate to the board you didn't think that there'll be more than five trips per day with that one no that's a lot of driving because most of the dispensaries that want to partner with us and the manufacturing companies are north of Denver we haven't had any conversations with anyone down this way in Vin and the type of vehicle would be a standard cor uh POV yeah a a vehicle a minivan okay and uh we've talked about security and we've talked about voer mitigation um can you address whether you anticipate any noise for light issues related to this operation no so much with other agriculture natural crops um light impacts them they have photo periods where they're in a vegetative state and then they go into a flowering state if you had lights constantly on it would hurt the crops but more importantly it would shine a light on where it's at but also disturb the neighbors and we're not okay with that so what we're doing instead since we're going to have a fair amount of camera equipment besides uh motion sensors we're also going to have motion trip uh infrared lights this way if the lights are on the cameras Can See Clearly but we're not uh impacting the neighbors next place and finally um related to prohibitive uses in Franklin Township uh Franklin Township has a general ordinance for all districts that prohibit certain uses uh basically uh constituting a public nuisance by reason of dissemination of noxious toxic R of fume smoke odors or dust noise or vibration exceeding the average intensity of noise or vibration occurring from other causes endangering the surrounding areas by reason of fire explosion producing un I'm sorry objectionable heat and glare uh resulting in electrical disturbances contributing to the pollution of water creating any other objectionable condition which will endanger public health or safety or be to the detriment of the properties of the surrounding areas is there anything related to this operation that would fit into those that criteria of prohibited uses no this is standard F okay and uh you are prepared to comply with njac 1730 and 38 guess and uh just to be clear that the property is currently farming assess but from conversations with the County tax assessor what you understand to happen to the for that would be cated the the the cannabis farm site will be charged standard tax rate for the township as opposed to farm land assess uh they said it's actually fairly easy for them to do did you have any other questions I have one yeah have the uh a building I guess that's where the the uh free drying is going to be with the trailer so how are you planning I mean you're in the electric back there correct yeah we're we're running you're not going to put you're not going to put like a generator out there that's going to have to run 24 no so what I can say and this kind of goes for our security a little bit so primary is going to be underground run wiring it's the safest and realistically the best way to do um uh our alternate would be if we did lose power temporary generator or potentially solar panels depending on what works best for us it's a fairly low power consumption operation and then contingency if we do have that big of a problem like you know a tornado comes through and knocks out the Grid in this area uh I'm very good at pulling guard and me Billy will be pulling 24-hour guard on the side I just had a question um is anybody else going to testify regarding the process no the process is primarily right here I understand General the process thinking maybe the board or I would like to hear like from beginning to end what's happening like from the time you're getting Seed where it's going and I'll tell you because uh the um engineer and I were looking at the regulations and one of them indicates that the Cannabis cultivator shall have at least the following storage areas which must be segregated from each other so there's at least four different very specific segregated um areas storage for newly received um is UN unusable cannabis um usable cannabis so there's a whole bunch of categories so it sounds like they you have to have a very specific process as to how you're using the trailer yes but were I don't know there should be a trailer but um using your building um for this so I think maybe if we can hear like beginning end what's happening unless the board doesn't want to hear that but hearing the process from where you get your seed and how it ends up going out the door when it's done and what's happening in the building okay so first step would obviously be to get the seeds there several high quality genetics companies that we're aware of that we would be purchasing the seeds directly through um once we have the seeds uh will most likely start them uh in starters potenti just to make sure we have the crafts up because uh one of the biggest threats to cannabis seedling is mice we all know what Farms have so they'll be in seedlings until in seed starters till they're big enough then they'll be planted in the dirt uh where there'll be water they'll be under the sun the rain all that goodness and then towards the end of the summer so as the light starts going back to 12-hour days uh it will go into What's called the flowering phase that's when it starts producing the actual buds in the flower from that point on it's only the last four weeks where cannabis actually has a snow so you're talking at most one month once they are deemed ripe um which we use microscopes to do which is actually one of the big parts of our security you can't tell if it's ready to go unless you're on the property um so once that's done we will go through and cut the tops off the plants which has the highest quality stuff that will be amazing immediately freeze drrive once that's done it'll be packaged and taken to a dispensary after State approvals everything has to be lab tested there are minimum requirements for mole bacteria Etc once the uh once the lab approves it then we can give it to the dispensaries and they can sell it where are you growing the seeds uh we're going to be ordering in the seeds sir at least at the beginning there is a potential where we'll cultivate our own seeds but that's not in the immediate plans so you're getting seedings Not seeds No Seeds start we're going to start the seeds we're going to order SE I know but where what location there's various uh genetics companies throughout the country now where you going to start where you going to put the starter at you grow get we'll probably just put them outside raised up or maybe a table or something okay within the same 10,000 yeah everything's within it any anything involving the business takes place in that 10,000 square ft so after you cut off the tops of the plants what you do with the rest of the remaining plant and roots and so forth second pass uh to get the lower stuff and then with the roots the leaves the stems the branches all that uh in accordance with state law will go through a grinding machine and be mixed with uh calor for mching or no for uh fertilizer fertilizer thank you that yes any other questions how do you plan to irrigate this crop uh there's existing uh well out there so primarily we'll just be using a hose we're talking a very small area so it can be fairly easily done with the hose and uh do you have an estimate of the amount of water at least the maximum that it would use during the course of growing season through the course of growing season we anticipating using well less than 100,000 gallons of water the thing with cannabis that kind of separates it from its relative plants like tomatoes and all that is it does prefer a slightly drier soil so the requirement like a farmer who is farming Tomatoes will need to use more water than us when we Farm the Cannabis and obviously the more it rains the less water we need and is there anything that you would be using on the um on the plants that would affect that would in any way har run off water I know there's not SE sewer there but is there any um effect on the general runoff of the operation cultivating absolutely not because when it comes time to even fertilizer fertilize we're just top dressing with uh compost uh we have found that using nature as opposed to pouring chemicals on the plants Works a whole lot better it's a whole lot cheaper how often a state come and inspect everything to our knowledge the only time you get an inspection is an initial setup I haven't heard thing about additional uh inspections but what I can say is the council and all that will always have an open invitation there because the best way I think for people to understand what we're doing is come see I mean some of the neighbors I talk to were so happy like I can't wait to come see your security I can't wait to come see the plant you know it was it's pretty [Music] good how many other outside grow facili Jersey just one it's owned by Nova farms uh one of my friends works there and their outdoor is 7 Acres I know wberry is very pleased with that based off the numbers I'm hearing for the checks the council get so thank you very much thank you gentlemen and thank you for your service and i' like to call William [Music] ler you've already been swor in and giving your name and address and you are one of the um main parts main members in the corporation apping for this yes and can you tell us um the proposed use of this canis cultivation operation on how that is inherently a an inherently beneficial use yes so this proposed project site is already in a zone that permits agriculture uh which is itself a use that promotes the general welfare and is inherently beneficial this is evidenced by the preferential treatment given to farming operations go through the right to farm legislation preferential tax treatment and Public Funding of farm land for ation furthermore uh the New Jersey Department of the agriculture specifically States for all of us Farmland preservation is an important part of keeping jersey green and prosperous preserve Farmland limits urban sprawl protects our water and soil provides us with an abundance of locally grown farm products and maintains our connection to the land and the long-standing agricultural Traditions that earned our reputation as the state and I'd like to remind everybody that we we are the Garden State and yet urban sprawl is still here uh within the township we now have two super wahas strip malls fast food chains and a multitude of housing developments going up yet still funding for Farmland preservation has been approved multiple times by Statewide referendums County Municipal level governments have also supported the program financially and procedurally the desire to preserve farms and keep Farms operating is based on its inherent benefit to general public but the risk of continuing to lose Farmland due to financial concerns of the farmers and the municipalities is very evident as a matter of fact in the Township's um master plan they also state that profitability and sustainability of farms is of major concern uh and it should be a valid concern considering the agriculture in our Township is down you actually look at the uh Franklin Township farmland preservation plan uh from years 1984 to 2019 total agriculture in our Township is down almost 44% so some of you might be asking like why is it down so much uh the reality is it's very very difficult to be profitable Farm it's very risky uh there's a lot of unknowns it's a lot of hard work and you have the majority of farmers in our Township who are a lot older and they're either retiring from farming or they're moving on from this world de and they're passing down their properties and their Farms the Next Generation and that next generation is my age I'm 37 years old and I'm a high school teacher I'm a college professor I have a stable job I have a stable income I have benefits I had Vacation all that sort of stuff and there's a lot of people like me that are getting these farms and they're like why why would I give up all this ability I have family I have a home a mortgage everything to take care of why am I going to give this up to go farm something that's risky so what do they do they sell the farm they subdivide it for houses and I think that's kind of something that we're all seeing here in this Township right now so the influx of revenue from preservation the revenue from like the influx of revenue from preservation the revenue from Cannabis cultivation will also serve the same purpose allowing Farms to continue operating thereby limiting urban sprawl increasing foreign profits and Longevity while simultaneously helping quelch the concerns of the township of foreign sustainability and profitability that's via the master plan and let's just put it in perspective everybody if we just took I'll draw some other comparisons later but if we look at a bushel of corn a bushel of corn weighs about 55 PB a bush of corn sold on the market you get about $4.50 per bushel you have to produce produce a tremendous amount of corn in order for it to be profitable if I compar that to cannabis and I took a 55 lb bushel of cannabis cannabis isn't measured in bushels but let's just say it's a 55 lb bushel of cannabis that would be about $55 to $60,000 that's profitability this CFT can be helpful for smaller Farms with a one time diffusion of money from selling development rights is not large enough to sustain the farming operation for long this proposed use is a regular yearly boost of farming operation allowing reinvest reinvestment into other areas of the farm as well now cannabis is regulated differently than any other crop however as as my partner Jim mentioned it grows just like every other crop it is a plant it has roots it photosynthesizes it breaks down CO2 into a carbon sugar and releasing oxygen it uses water it uses sunlights it uses every other nutrient just like any other plant would do additionally cannabis is inherently beneficial in that it has medicinal and Therapeutics uh benefits that include pain reduction improv sleep performance cancer management and relaxation name with few although was only recently legal in New Jersey Studies have shown that legalization in other states helps reduce the uh consumption of Ops and lastly the ality has the ability to tax up 2% I also want to put on the record that the municipality never rode an ordinance to tax us 2% however we want to be good community members I am from this community I grew up here I love my community I love my neighbors and I want to be able to if I can produce something that profitable and other people can benefit from it that's a win um anything else related to the benefit and an alternative way to meet the positive criteria besides being inherently beneficial isn't show that the property is particularly suitable for the so can you explain how this site is particularly suitable to this yes so uh so this site particularly suitable for issues one because it's as we already mentioned a couple times it's a small operation it is 10 000 ft to put it in perspective because some people might not be able to visualize or think about what 10,000 ft looks like we did the the football analogy however think of two basketball courts that's 10 about 10,000 sare ft or in acres it's 23 Acres it's less than a quarter AC uh also the site is sparsely populated where the grow area is I mean my my neighbors have double digit acreage around me that there's no development on besides a couple residential houses Additionally the property includes a residence which my father will still continue to live there um which also adds to one of security and also day-to-day operations in facility uh also there's a lot of barriers to entry as uh Jim mentioned earlier we have multiple points to access the operation if somebody had to access it everything's fenced in there's really only one ease of access through that one main gate um it's also in an old arena where both my parents used to practice that's been there for 25 30 years and it has 25 30y Old hedes pick of bushes poison ivy trees you cannot you cannot see into it finally um I'm not saying that every property is suitable because every property obviously is not suitable for this use uh however my family's property is uniquely suited considering the property is literally highlighted multiple multiple times in the Franklin Township Farmland preservation plan as a Target as I quote Target Farm uh due to the fact that 100% of the property has Prime farming soil not to mention it's also located in an Agricultural Development Area can I uh direct your attention over to this this plan for on this property line on the side where the Cannabis culation operation would be are there any residents residences alone here so I'll just so my neighbor right here directly in line with this front pasture right in the middle is Miss m which I think she's here tonight and then her daughter Tina Liv right next door right in front actually a little bit little bit in front of my dad's line of view and then behind that where the Canabis operation is what is there so there's nothing directly behind it if we can look at the small picture up here so this is about close to 15 Acres of woods um our closest neighbor directly behind us is a about I think it's like close to a mile behind us on Clark ad Mr D lives right here uh and that's it and the part owned by Miss Mrs M's son back parall with the field is there any residence in that are no you can kind of see you can see the line right here where the property line divides uh Mr Sun at Penny uh owns this property right here which is just field and right behind there is a bunch of woods and uh the nearest neighbor in the back of the property is is how far away would you uh the nearest neighbors probably close to 15 Acres away or close to a mile away roughly okay and uh is there a particular way that the winds tend to grow that property so what's nice about the property it's kind of really hard to tell here but the property is almost positioned north south almost perfectly in the summer months or in the warmer months winds typically Blow from the southernly region to the Norther region so they're blowing from the street back to the woods so everybody's worried about smell and I'll get into more smell a little bit later but the reality is wind is actually blowing away from the residential houses to the woods and there's nobody behind us and Mr da doesn't care that's your understanding from speaking the multiple times and uh one last thing that you may have touched on briefly but I just want to emphasize on this particular farm that would be potentially being preserved as a farm through the added income of the Cannabis operation uh this is this is one of the target farms in the Franklin Township preservation uh forent preservation plan cor and part of the reason in addition to its uh size and location is that it's 100% Prime soil correct 100% Prime soil and also listed as 77.9% uh tillable ground and the reason being is because there's a chunk of woods the back and that Woods would also serve as a natural bu absolutely plus my neighbor teenagers behind of woods and I the goal the first goal that uh and this is going to the uh no substantial impairments the intent and purpose of the master plan and zoning ordinance the first goal identified in Frankl C 20 or 2004 master plan is to preserve the qualy at lank County and the first objective under this pool is to retain the rural character of the community does the uh proposed variance in any way impair the intent and purpose of the master PL no as a matter of fact it actually uh achieves the goals of the master plan some goals of the open space plan and also satisfy areas of the Farmland preservation plan uh one of the goals of the master plan and the open space plan is to preserve the rural character and quality of life at the end of the day uh this crop allows us to keep this a farm an actual Farm it seems very easy to subdivide properties nowadays and and sell them as houses but I would genuinely like to keep this a farm um and by default having the farm helps achieve the goal simply by because Farms are World by Nature uh and farming by its nature improves the quality of life and being connected to their natural roots the other part of the master plan is it says attracting and retaining agricultural businesses now I mentioned earlier that total agriculture in Township is down 44% from 1984 to 2019 the goal the master plan is to attract and retain agricultural businesses what better opportunity right now where you have an actual agricultural business want to come into the township who really has already been here family that's been here since the 60s a younger man who eventually will take over this property who wants to keep it a farm um now we can attract an agricultural business kind of but we can also help retain it by now producing something that's profitable and that I can reinvest back into my family's property to help holer other agricultural production uh other parts of the master plan economic expansion and diversification we've done that tremendously in this Township over the years I remember when I was a kid and I'm being serious when I say this I remember when I was a kid Wawa used to be an actual Deli on the corner of Cy and Main Ro and now we have two super wahas I love W coffee I'm a big fan but we have two super wah Dunkin Donuts McDonald's strip malls housing develops going up which is fine I understand that's necessary however we are supposed to be an agricultural moral community that is part of Franklin Township's website under the about us literally says rural agricultural community and in order for us to keep a rural agricultural Community we also have to expand and diversify into agricultural GRS and this is one of those Niche props that can be profitable and now we're expanding and diversifying our portfolio here in the township rather than growing soy beans and corn and out and the last question and we've already been over oh I'm sorry a couple more at least one more anyway this is also part of the master plan which I kind of already mentioned earlier but sustainability and profitability I mentioned $4.50 per bushel soy beans are $10 per bushel roughly uh potatoes are $13 a bushel and can be about $55,000 a bush uh which again allows a greater reinvestment back into the farm and a shot of tax revenue back into the township as well uh which could be used to satisfy aspects of the open space plan at the end of the day forming up 10,000 ft of cannabis is not in any way inair or contradict the p uh the purpose of the master plan if at anything it absolutely achieves a lot of those goals and I I know we've touched on a lot of the next topic but um does the proposed variance in any way compare theal zoning ores yeah uh no so this property is own piland rural residential uh so as reference in the pine lands uh in the applicable ordinances section permits farming in all its branches restricting only obnoxious businesses like slaughter houses and pigar ordinance 253 for Pine lands Ral residential States any production of plants or animals useful to man and I want to just make a side note human beings have been used in cannabis for it reported record 26,000 years as the earliest known record of Canabis use on uh fossils so we've been using this for a long time it's only been very very recently our human history that we have banded due to Big Corporation profit and political gain I continue so useful demand including but not limited to livestock poultry fruits vegetables flowers etc etc etc it does specifically prohibit two things Mining and land filling uh furthermore the thailands also says that cannabis farming is agriculture and is a permitted use the application does not stantially impair the intent of the prohibited use ordinance while the prohibited uses include those that and I quote constitute a public nuisance by reason of dissemination obnoxious toxic or corrosive fume smoke odor or dust this project only produces an odor for a very short amount of time as Jim mentioned about four weeks roughly um during each Harvest cycle and to be quite honest with you ladies and gentlemen odor is as far as bad odor is very subjective I'd also like to note that at one point this is a personal story my parents had almost 100 headed cattle about 20 horses pigs dogs and my neighbor's chickens would always find their way onto their property as well to join the CL we he had a monster monster manure P nobody complained maybe it did I don't know I don't remember anybody but at the end of the day did you get fine dad I don't think so most all my my neighbors have been there my entire life or most of my life and we usually keep to ourselves and at the end of the day I don't remember any issues with any of that so the size of this cultivation is 10,000 ft um and the distance from residential houses is very you know typically far I mean we measured it out our closest neighbor to the actual operation is Miss M she's roughly about 4 500 ft away uh and then our farthest neighbor is almost a mile away that borders the property here in the farm selected a few reasons obviously I already mentioned all the HED RS act as a smell barrier uh it takes a advantage of the prevailing winds because the winds blow south and north in the warmer months so blowing away from residential houses also a short smell window only about four weeks we mentioned that we also mentioned freeze drying as well so basically we took a huge process that could potentially cause OD that takes 2 to 3 months and we roll up down to basically 24 to 48 hours also myself and Jim or me or Jim went to every sing single neighbor we spoke with every neighbor except one that was Mrs Sant Angelo she's an old woman and we left a letter on her doorstep saying she had any concerns to give us a call we spoke with every single neighbor now but I was told to my face by every one of my neighbors that property BS ours they had they had no issue do whatever you want I'm being a little de just saying do whatever you want but at the end of the day they didn't care they had a c some some neighbors had a couple concerns we talked about the concerns at the end of it like all right that's fine now apparently there's a couple Neighbors in here that border my property that told me to my face that they were fine with it and now they might be coming out against it I'm not sure we'll find out but I was verbally told to my face Jim was told to his face but we were both told to both of our faces that it was fine can I ask um if there were um an issue with the smell despite your anticipation that there's not going to be are there other steps that can be taken to further litigate any small issu yes so um as Jim already kind of pointed out we'll be running with the free dryer we don't really anticipate any smell coming out of that to begin with but just to be say um we're going to be having carbon filters attached to it to help filter out any excess smell that may um come out of it we're also going to be uh planning companion plants and for those you who don't know what Pion plant is is basically a beneficial plant where plants they they actually can be bites so plants can help each other so we're going P planting companion plants that not only help our Canabis plants but also also specific plants that produce a floral smell so some of the plants that we're going to be planting are lemon bomb lavender we want to plant jasmine but we're not sure if Jasmine is going to be Hardy enough Mar Golds Bonas um and I'm sure there's a few other plants that we'll be able to find that produce nice oh lilac produces a great smell as well so would be awesome planning then not only does it beautify the property but it also creates a natural smell that is very pleasant um we already mentioned this earlier but we are partnering with the stock and researcher already have done that and he's planning on coming out and doing research to actually see how far smell travels what is nice about that is we actually have some research hopefully that can maybe squash some concerns of municipalities around the state uh some of the boards around the state and also some of the neighbors that are concerned with any Source um and then you know I I just kind of want to point out this funny you know everybody's worried about smell it kind of confuses me a little bit considering we we live in a farming Community when I was in high school I used to work on Fry Nursery we planted a lot of cilantro I hate the sell cilantro cilantro stinks and you have freaking Acres of cilantro behind residential houses what are you going to do like it is you live in a farming area stuff stinks sometimes if for some reason odor is an issue other things that we plan on doing putting up carbon impregnated flat fabric around our fences if odor is an issue just to help even more but at the end of the day if smell if the smell was so strong then why since the 1980s was Franklin Township flying police helicopters to look for illegal grow operations in the township as a matter of fact my dad would always tell his story to me he told his story to me a couple times actually had a police helicopter land in one of our Fields cuz they were using infrared and they saw our Manor pile light up and they thought it was a legal grow operation so if the smell is so strong wouldn't it just be easier just to kind of drive around and just smell out the window just to see where the area is so you know I just kind of want to throw that in there state right sorry I AP I apologize um I think that's all my questions if anyone has any other questions do you guys have any questions I think that Dave why don't you give you a report please why don't you give you a report and then we we had done a a report dated June 24 2024 based upon the information has been submitted um and most everything that's been in my review letter is what they you know they they've spoken to because they've been provided with this but this is a Pinelands rural residential district it's not necessarily an agricultural district and in the Pinelands rural residential district cannabis is not a specifically permitted use that's why they're here for a use VAR um the Frankin Township ordinance -6x 21 specifically says that um the growing and cultivation of cannabis is only permitted in industrial zones and this is not an industrial Zone as such the applicant has requested the D variance and that's why we're here tonight there's another another D variance associated with this because in the section of our ordinance 25396 C it says that no more than one principle used to be used on a parcel and this would technically be two so they're they're kind of hand and glove and go together you get one you get both um but those are the two used variants associated with what we're talking about tonight we've heard testimony that this is only for the cultivation and there will be no manufacturing of cannabis as part of this application um 10,000 ft of cultivation area is what we've heard of and a business trailer in that enclosed area for storage and for processing or packaging uh of the cultivated cannabis um since our since this is not permitted in Township we don't have a lot of regulations as if it was permitted so we kind of roll back on the state regulations that we heard testimony about tonight uh the administrative code 17-30 um and some of that is what is in my review letter like paragraph 4 it specifically States it can't happen on um value or assess or land for or or not assess I'm sorry Farmland it can't happen on Farmland assess land so I guess there's a way to do that you can un assess the land um I don't really know how that works it's really not a function of what we do here but there's certain state regulations that they're going to have to deal with um also uh they were talking about the fencing that's another spec specific State regulation and I just want some clarification on this I know you you had testimony that said you spoke with the state but 17 colon 30 10.3 C I think it says the property shall that contains an outdoor grow area and the outdoor grow area itself shall each be securely surrounded Ed by fencing and lock Gates so around the entire perimeter when I read that it tends to say the entire property needs to be fenced and then the specific grower so that's something that you're really going to have to deal with at the state level but it's a it's a concern from where we are today am I allowed to clarify this go ahead so the property is completely fed in uh number one number two with the 8 foot fence uh with the six foot fence so and now let's think about this logically does it make logical sense to completely Encompass a farm that is supposed to be prime farm land with a 8ot chain link stock it doesn't make sense and actually kind of goes against a prac as well so hang on my client is fully prepared to comply with whatever requirement the state has and that's tells him that he needs an 8ot fence then he will you know do that but he that the state does not require that around the entire it would would tend to make sense I just wanted to bring that up so we were aware of it at this point in time and we talk to the state already about that and they're totally fine with the two fenes that we have and I have documentation for that too that's fine um so that and I don't know why I necessarily put this in here but in the review letter paragraph 12 the township only permits a variance is necessary for 8ft tall fence in this particular that's really a subject of site plan and not necessarily the use variance today I don't mean to I don't mean to to confuse the item but I just wanted to bring that up so we should know that you should be prepared at the time of site plan if you're asking for a variance for the entire parcel or just the uh double as you have before and we are actually requesting a laor of the site plan possible because it is just limited to two fences but if it's uh not possible we would certainly obviously request that variance at the same time I in the meantime if the waiver is granted we would request that variance some of the other items on our review letter have been addressed by the plans that we receiv received today and and you should have them on your uh on the dis there we heard testimony about the number and types of vehicles security noise light um really that that is not a whole lot of engineering per se with this cuz you know we're just growing in a 10,000 square FL area y all right thanks B can can I ask a two followup questions sure just to be uh clear when you talk about the Zoning for the pman rural residential um the second primary use listed is uh forming in all its branches correct so even though it's not designated as agricultural in its title forming in any of its branches it's the second uh permitted use for that zone right but but it's not permitted in Township cannabis itself is not I understand I understand your argument about cannabis I'm just saying that farming itself is a permitted use in the pr Zone in fact it's the second permitted use after residential a is residential B is farming in all its forms obviously the Township's position is the marijuana would leave the bar correct and that that's correct okay and U there was one other thing you mentioned that the township um did you you say the township doesn't allow cannabis growth you're just referring to the fact that you're requiring this variance correct cannabis cultivation because I believe I believe um if I'm understanding what you were saying correctly that by not uh disallowing cannabis cultivation they your position is they're allowing it but only in the industrial correct that's what says but just to be clear they didn't uh disallow it they chose to allow it it's just that your position is that that ordinance applies only to the industrial Zone that's correct and that's why you're saying that we are here today for this VAR correct and if the town have wondered they obviously could have said that they did not want cannabis cultivation anywhere in the township that that well more importantly I mean you're putting him on the spot more importantly sorry I don't that just trying to I mean if they wanted to allow cultivation in this Zone would have said they allowed it since they didn't be here variance but my only point is they were not correct my only point is they were not opposed to the actual idea of cultivation of Canabis in Franklin Township because they could have at that point disallowed it everywhere if they had chosen to do so I don't think they address it at all just it's not allowed in this in this Zone that's why you're here okay I anything any other questions okay let's uh let's open up the public motion second byy second by D all in favor I oppose extensions okay anybody from the public like to make any comments regarding this application they would please come forward everybody has three minutes to speak raise your right hand please tell test R again name and address Michael 103 Drive uh good evening everyone my name is Michael cos I currently resident of univ Township uh although I currently live there I grew up here in Frank wol went the main road schol um and I still have found the goal though is to move hopefully move back here fact um Billy and I grew up together uh we've been best friends since I was 12 and 37 um as a matter of fact I used to help the fight for family on their Farm uh Bale horse dos um and that's currently where they're planning on our Dr count back that far uh this town has been known to be a farming community and my hopes is that it stays that way I fully support what Billy and Jim are proposing with Mystic Botanical farms uh 1813 Dutch road is more than suited for this use it would be nice to see agriculture come back to the township and for this Township to actually support the continuation of its agricultural the project proposed by Mystic banal Farms is an opportunity not only to revitalize the local economy but also to honor and build Upon Our community's Rich farming Traditions thank you thank you anyone else my name is Jeff Tish raise your right hand please so tell the truth about the testim you're going to get name and address 1194 he Jeff Tish thank you uh I own 7 ACR right across the bilage house and U I'm all for and you take the Future Farmers of America this is how they going to start to produce uh corn right now to produce it is $5 a bushel to produce it's now bringing four bucks okay so we're at a loss here this is your future f right here when he gets on his feet with this he's going to Branch out like he said and do other things so I have no idea how he's going to produce corn or beans or anything else and put five bucks a bushel out the planet and get close to four bucks a bushel back he want to lose so I'm off work what he's doing neighbor he gets more less once he gets his and he makes some money other thank you Mr come forward next are you together kind of okay can we be together yes you can raise your right hand please s to tell the truth about the testimony you're going to give yes name and address please Susan manga 1839 Dutch road which I don't exist according to what was told here today okay I live closest to the property it's like my house is there and the property line is here but I that's why I decided to speak up because all a sudden I don't exist okay I'm just speak into the into the microphone please I'm just 181 I I live in the middle she's here me than her are you opposed to this is that I just have some questions and I just would like to ask some questions and get some answers that's why I came okay ask the questions I thought come on you guys are together get [Music] together yeah you have to speak you have to speak it to the microphone hold it hold it you got to speak you got to speak to us I wanted to tell Billy that he's he's telling the truth that when he came around to the house in the summer I did uh agree because he caught me off are and uh but when we have a chance to sit back and think about it uh there's a lot of things that I don't agree I first my husband and I think that by having this in our neighborhood could cause a lot of Rich W people coming in and out and we have a nice room neighborhood right now it's kind of quiet and and we're we're fine we don't need this and used to say that in the future that somehow or another he will enlarge it you know he'll be doing good possibly and he'll want to do better so he'll want to enlarge so then where do we better uh I'm a little nervous right now sorry don't be nervous um I just um my husband and I juste far as Happ and my brother across the street that kept me here tonight to a D in um they agree they don't want it either and they did right across the street from so um I'm surprised feeling that there aren more people here that live on that street through our but anyway that's how I feel thank you my feel thank you thank you now I have three minutes yes okay I'm exing me this isn't you can't even not working Christi stop working hello the microphone's not working is it I don't think it's I can talk [Music] L um okay you to speak to us you got speak us speak to you guys Sor okay so I'm a school bus driver and I park my bus right between my house and his property I'm probably the closest to what he's building here and I can see it all and he came to my house house and I wasn't expecting them either was my husband and my husband's like oh he doesn't really care I'm like okay I guess it's not a big deal I don't know I was concerned about the smell I was concerned about how big it might get I was also concerned was it be closer to my house and I think it is pretty sure it is I live on if you're looking at his property I live on the right side when they said there was no Neighbors on that side I like what are you talking about I'm not I don't exist you know so anyway I'm a little concerned like what happens when I go to sell my house is anyone going to want to live there is anyone going to want to buy it I have allergies I'm concerned about and and my bus is going to smell like cannabis I'm driving around and and I'm picking up um special needs kids you know I don't know so I'm concerned about those things and I tried to voice some of my concerns and we did talk to Billy and I think he's a great guy no problem with he his his dad I just came here tonight to find out a little bit more about it because we really didn't go through a lot I didn't understand all that was going on so this is like information for me I get a little upset when I was not even brought up that I even live next door like one side of the house no no one lives there like what what do you mean know one L there and it I would love it if he had his property with neighbors far away but that's not the way it is that's the problem I'm consider if I want to sell my house nobody wants to buy it understandable is there anybody else in our supposed to that there's one they said in near the de area right or wood I'm not sure where exact I know the owner I'm not exactly sure what counts so the answer is no that's the answer no there's nothing called that all right thank you anyone else like to be heard please come forward raise your right hand please just spr to tell tell the truth about the testimony you're going to get the name and address 135 some half de New Jersey uh gentlemen I uh Jim mentioned me earlier um I was a land corball in the United States Marine Corp uh former machine gunner at thir Marines and my family come I I have a member of my family has fought in every single War since the Civil War talking to my dad constantly he was in the Navy we both talk about how the American dream is bleeding now this American dream is what I voluntarily signed up to die for being a machine gunner you know is cup board you're going to war they're going to be targeting you I understand understand that this is a very touchy subject but my question to Y all is who would be better than to lead this front and take this on when there are so many questions than a veteran that committed his life to this country a mentor and a teacher and amazing role model to this this town's youth both of these gentlemen will offer you um attention to detail communication and collaboration with the community and again to go on what Jim had said when I had gotten out of the Marine Corps I had no idea what to do I was a former team leader of a machine gun team I led five of the best Marines you could possibly hope to beat your whole life now I EAS which is getting out I came home less than 24 hours later I was thr into my childhood house that I grew up in and I went from leading the team of Marines to Leading the head of the unemploy unemployment now that wrecked my mentality I fell into a pit of Great Depression I couldn't talk to anybody I didn't want to talk to my family or friends because I didn't want them to think poorly of me now I had to do some soul search and to find myself again I chose to take the route of medical cannabis and that helped me a tremendous amount one of my best friends went to the VA I'm sorry this is very hard for me to talk about one of my best friends went to the VA and was prescribed opioids and three months later killed himself on Christmas Day I want y'all and bring this up just so you all think of this this is bigger than just recreational use there are on the recreational side there may be a lack of self-control that some people show but I do not want that to overshadow the benefits of this plant and how it can affect this community and what better community be a pillar of that vacon of Hope veterans in Franklin thank you thank you [Music] raise your right hand please you swear to tell the truth about the testimony you're going to give yes I name and address please my name is Al 1777 I came here mostly to find out exactly what the variant was but if listening some of the I don't want to say lies but basically they what bell Piper Junior came over to my children's house and my son wanted to check out I in and they he was told there would or they were told there would be three chain 10 ft also told that you can't get through the hedro I have all res back the knees and had open heart surgery and I was on that property so it's accessible the fence around it has been knocked down by hces here whatever Billy also told me that someone was Raising marijuana on my neighbor's property I went searching around look I whe it's there that's why the other thing that bothers me and I think that's why I came in mostly was the price of the property I checked on the National Association of vilers that said on whole value property in a community that ra part will go off but the housing closest to the facility cross decreases so when um you think about it once that bullet is fired we don't go [Music] bring thank you thank thank you for your comments raise your right hand please chy parins I've lived in this community for over 38 years now my son is rer obviously I'm here to support him but also importantly I'm here to support our local farming Community everyone in this room should ask themselves if we want to become another Philly suburb with the crime and problems that come with Suburbia or do we want to be quiet rural Farm Camp you have to decide suburbs or farm this is a farming Community I mean I believe it says on the website World fing and I'm starting to see concrete and it's it's a shame because you know what you can't bring Farmland back once that's developed it's gone this is a way to maintain our beautiful town when my my son's father and I were together we traveled the country very and worked incredbly part bailing ha and maintaining our farm it's hard to make a full-time living farming and what my son and Jim are proposing is a way for my son to keep the property farmed and not turning into another Housing Development I hope you guys really consider doing the right thing and granting them the varing that they need to keep this in thank you thank you [Music] raise your right hand please you swear to tell the truth about the testone you're going to give name and address I'm my name is gar cop I live at three West chry Street in wiona Jersey not far from here um I'm really here tonight uh to support bill um I've know for a long time think about it if you as a group look at the amount of work that these two gentlemen have put in making this presentation possible the sharing office with the at school teaching I can tell you I have not seen anyone put that much work into anything in the amount of passion and Care over the course of the past year for him to make this a possibility this gentleman over here talked about the future I've been trying to move my family to Franklinville for the past year going to the housing market right now right I've been on three houses haven't been successful yet I have three children 12 8 and six so we're talking about the future we're not talking about the past or scenario types that may or may not be true but this is the way the future is going and we are talking about building something great this gentleman right here and this gentleman right here I actually don't think there could be two better people in the entire world to do this I did not ever have to serve and I am blessed because of the freedom that this gentleman me this gentleman right over here and they're telling stories that the only way they were able to help themselves is because of something that a plant that grows in the ground if there's any way to help people who help protect our freedom why would we stop I just don't understand that so much like Billy's mom said I I do encourage you to do the right thing and think about the future not to look the past but think about people like me who are trying to move into a town like this because of what it me I live in Winona we want to get out because every lot's a quarter acre right and everyone knows everyone else's business and frankville is a beautiful country I love driving down here and that's why we want to get in so I highly encourage you to please please please give these guys what they're asking for based on the sacrifices they made in time and service for our [Music] country you SAR to tell the truth about testify your have to give excuse me you swear to tell the truth about the testimony you're about to give I do name and address please my name is I live in at Parker count New Jersey and I am not good at speaking in of people so I apologize for that but I am speaking from my heart don't be nervous we're regular people here um I'm standing up here because I personally know my nephew and he is one of the the most hardest working dedicated people and if there is anything that the state or the township need I guarantee you my nephew will do it above and beyond I grew up on that property I know thatty I know the ring that the um ring the horse Ring I used to show horses and ride horses too like I said I was on that one I asked my nephew we had a debate about this because he asked me how I felt about all this and I'm like well I I don't know I wasn't so sure about it but after he talked to me about it first of all if anyone goes on to the property that's tress P we shouldn't be doing that and I can tell you that where this is get getting put because he inde detail told me it that fence is inside another fence yes there is that broken down fence I I saw that 40 years ago that that fence and yes there is Shrubbery and everything the poison ivy and everything's on it but I guarantee Michel we there is an doubt in my mind that my nephew and his partner I don't know you that well but I know this man right here he has busted his rear end his whole life and I would love to see my mom property be brought up because if he's making $55,000 or something a bushel I guarantee you it's going to look like Southport or we're Dallas you know what I'm talking about and I would love that for my mom you know because there won't be any broken penes he'll spend that money on that P and there I guarantee you I love my nephew I get this I'm not good this but did a fine job thank you you where to tell the truth about Tes you're going to give name and address please yes my name is Lisa burn I live at 619 GF in pregn I've been sitting here listening to all the positivity about Billy Piper and I'm 150% on board I will make care to read this I support Billy and I hope you all support Billy he is the most amazing man he went to school with my son he was actually a Grom Spin and my husband and I wedding he's family to me what he's doing and the hard work that he has put into this it's going to be a positive for and I please hope you hear all the positivity that everyone I love you thank you just s to tell the truth about the testimony you're about to give I name and address Daniel Thomas just give you guys a little bit of context of why I'm here um I know Bly know for years I'm also a veteran I was in the rine Court from 2004 to 2013 I was an INF men I got selected with special forces second Recon um and then was a advisor at BO appointments two Iraq on Afghanistan and one on CL Supply Mission um Point all that is when I was in Afghanistan one of my main jobs was to train the Afghan police the Afghan Army to go around and seek out cannabis arms to burn them down to right after the calan come and say you now don't have an income you work for us we're going poy okay luy nothing but then when I got out of Marin I became a copy eff and I realized everybody was hooked on these opats that I just help n produc globally by allowing this to happen so I did that for a while after about a year and a half I realiz I'm just arresting drug addicts that actually need help and I'm taking your freedom and I'm using um case law to smell cannabis in their car to get into their pockets and get into searching them and take care their freedom I didn't want to do that anymore I saw UNH help to the VA and guess what they offered me those same synthetic drugs that I was just arresting everybody for and I didn't want anything to do with that I went back to school I figured out I want to learn something about psychology I have PP I ppsd I have other injuries but I want to get my brain right I get my body right um while I was there I was the student veteran organization president and I realized how much veterans actually need help I just thought we all kind of had it handled we're going to figure it out in our own way the number that we all l view 22 a day of killing themselves that's not count in Texas and California it's actually closer to 50 plus a day that are killing themselves which is 20, 20,000 a year this has been going on for decades now we just can't handle what we did over there what was done for whatever everyone got their own personal reason but every we need help and we need to start helping each other I have my own personal story one of my roommates squadmates put a shotgun in his mou killed himself his seven-year-old sister found him not to explaining to this little girl that that's a hero that's a parent you know that's your hero he's out there he's fighting for you he survived the war couldn't survive reality afterward and she's the one that had to find it and there dog story sure everyone here knows that as a story like that because there's so many killing themselves Point all that just trying to give a little context why do I even care about this um can just help me I was on that to addiction that I had some problems I need to get off can this is helped me with chronic pain with acute pain it's an anti-inflammatory helps anti-depression anti- anxiety anything you can think of it helps when you use it properly um why am I talking to you guys we need you guys as the representatives to allow access that's all we're basically asking for is that and you just allow us as veterans and everyone else to have access to a plant that is helpful that we're not going to be addicted to that's not going to end up being more crime down the road have thank you time's up yeah s to tell the truth about the testimony you're about to give I do Dave Marshall 67 New Road M first I just want to thank all the veterans that are in here many family members that were veterans that myself would have been in the Air Force except High I wouldn't allow I believe in what you do and I I thank you for what you've done and what you've given for this country is greatly appreciated that being said I was born here in this Township I've lived in this Township just shy 50 years with a short stand was out like could here when I first moved down I love the township I've spoken at many meetings about that and the last thing I want to do is see this town go to pop just proud to see it stay the way it is is as Lal as possible keep R Farmland weend I understand the financial aspect of it it is a cash it's a cash Cali at that Colorado was one of the forefronts of this in our country and at that point in time they were making a lot of money hand over fist now there's one and a half facilities of week closing in Colorado they realize the Market's on the downturn it's feeding out we don't have that in this because we haven't got to that kind of production yet but it's going to happen at some point there's enough mass production going on that a lot of it isn't need for the smaller side but again I understand his side of wanting to do this uh couple of things that were mentioned that I think are slightly inaccurate in some of the specifications and some of the uh the ERS when you look at cannabis and how far it can travel depending on what type of cannabis it is and as he mentioned with many different types five plants can travel 200 ft to 3/4 of a mile depending on how the wind is going that's five plants obviously in the 10,000 SCH area going be a lot more than that you have two sports complexes right down the street one indoor one outdoor the outdoor one is always and their prime time to play is when this is going to be flowering in that time period of the Fall there something to think about if your grandkids kids are on that field is the one that they going to be smelling when they're out there playing on soccer there something to think about as for the wood cannabis is that is Extreme consumer of work uh it's not a lot less than tomatoes is actually five times worse than a tomato one cannabis plant requires 5.8 gallons a day of water just to give you that in a little bit of context tomato plants are qu to 1 gallon a day peppers are qu to half a gallon a week a huge difference in in water quantity so a garden Bo isn't going to be other water 10,000 foot of C it's impossible that being said what happens when all that water when they do get the Water Production up where does the run off go that's the studies that are being done in these other states now of what's happening with the runoff and how that is affecting neighboring houses because there a lot of where you going to FL through that all do ground something going to think about on that side the security was mentioned that he does adere to all that that obviously that's some on that side uh something that wasn't talked about was and this is again the studies that are going on now they have found out that growing 1 o of cannabis inds this is inds produces the same amount of greenhouse gases of burning 7 to 16 gallons of gas the outdoor study is actually coming out the end of next month they think it's going to be less than that because then you have other air going around but it's still producing a lot of greenhouse gas is one of the worst have the Environ thank you thank you 82 [Music] Marsh the whole idea tonight is here called zoning and we have zoning laws for reasons we're all law-abiding citizens and state of New Jersey says marijuana can only be ground in an industrial center there was discussion about farmland farmland reservation in my wildest dreams I would never accused a23 acre crer as a farm state of New Jersey States Farm has be 6 acres to keep Q or qualified now Mr fers Farm is indeed 18 Acres 5801 L 35 2017 2018 Mr fer came to this Township agriculture advisory committee to preserve his F get in New Jersey denied him you know why I know why something happened Mr shiding and everyone here says this Farm is z Finance World presidential according to the state of New Jersey they say it's zoned land's agriculture production we had a resident in the Neighborhood Mr to his left who applied to Pine lands and changed it from P RR p in 5292 our zoning Maps indicate that it is prr state of New Jersey said it's p minimum lot size in P Pine land's agricultural production is 40.0 Acres because of this Mr Fifer had to go to the Pine lands commission and request a certificate of filing as well as an Loi letter of interpretation to find out his Pine L credits uh we never heard from him again if if farming his Z 40 acres pdc's Finance development credits were applied two other members in the township pushed an ordinance 02101 to reone Mr f farm from p p now I don't have that document in front of me but I'm going to tell everyone here 02101 it was changed to prr residential minimum lot size 40 acres and that's why Mr Biker's Farm was not preserved thanks okay please raise your right hand both of you you SAR to tell the truth about test BR you're going to get yes state your name then addresses I would just like to say I'm very proud of my dad and uncle are doing and I really appreciate it because I want to learn how to so I want to like be I guess thank you raise your right hand please s tell the truth about to you're going get I good evening Jason Mr chair here this evening uh speak on not specific to this application these applications in general um several of these come before the board previously as you know and been dened by the report right so um I wanted to just clarify a couple inaccuracies I heard put on the record this evening uh the first being that commercial canst cultivation is recognized as an agricultural use that's actually incorrect the state in GE does not recognize commercial Canabis cultivation as an agricultural um second that the township somehow intended to permit this use that also is not correct the township had an opportunity uh to ban certain classes of can cultivation they did so with classes once through four uh they chose to permit classes five and six which are cultivation and Manufacturing uh in the industrial within the C that's the second point of clarification the third is there was a statement that cannabis commercial cannabis cultivation is recognized uh under the munal law as an inherently beneficial use that is also accurately or factually incorrect um I'm sure Mr shy can list the the uses which are recognized under the municipal law is apparently beneficial um some of them being hospitals churches things as what but I do not believe going to change and confirm that that commercial candidat cultivation uh is one of those so I just like to point out those three things I would also caution the board um to be careful of taking into consideration uh Testament uh by any individual uh be consider here uh there was a testimony this evening that certain Township officials uh gave endorsements for this project um without those officials here order to cross examine them I think that's highly inappropriate so I'll take that thank you anyone else like to be heard there no close the public portion I make a motion we close the public portion motion By Dana Des I second Mr glaus all in favor I oppose okay M Melle you want to have any closing remarks I do I just want to clarify a few things um my argument wasn't that New Jersey already recognizes candidates as an inherently beneficial use my argument is that it is an inherently beneficial use even though it's not one one of the ones that New Jersey officially has listed as automatically inherently beneficial um and the reasons obviously are what we discussed earlier that it is uh used for medicinal purposes it's used for therapeutic purposes I mean people have been using Canabis to treat not just military veterans treating post-traumatic stress disorder but many conditions Caesar seizures cancer everyone here knows somebody who used marijuana before it was officially legal but the state has since made it legal and my argument related to uh the ordinance that Franklin town has passed and I think M Grant has the numbers backwards they had the ability at that point to restrict any of the six classes of cannabis at at any area in the township was I believe how the ordinance specifically released in fact I can pull up that now it does also reference that if they don't then it is automatically a permitted use industrial so my point is at that point they could have specifically restricted and said we do not we do not allow any cannabis operation any of the six classes anywhere in the township they could easily have done it and other townships have done it but they chose not to do that they chose to not restrict the first four classes of cannabis and class number one the first one being the cultivation they chose to restrict class five and six in every area of the township so they don't want distribution or retail sale anywhere in the township they did not choose to likewise restrict the other ones so basically what it's saying is they had the opportunity to make it a uh I forget the exact word prohibitive use they had the opportunity to make it an actual prohibited use and they chose not to do it it only May according you know to the arguments of the township it may only automatically make it a permitted use in industrial zones but it indicates where the township was as far as what they were willing to perit in the township and what they were not willing to perit in the township so that's just to clarify nobody's attempting to mislead anyone we're just simply making an argument that if if it wasn't inherently beneficial the state of New Jersey would have no reason to legalize it Franklin P would have no reason to say this isn't a prohibited use I and it has a medicinal purpose I mean it was legal for uh medicinal purposes before it became legal for recreational purposes so when we say a hospital is inherently beneficial it's because it treats ill people and basically a prescription medication is also treating someone's illness uh beyond that though we talked about the benefits of uh maintaining rural character franking because nobody's professing that 10,000 square ft makes this a a form what we're saying is that the same benefits that come from farming any other plant that isn't marijuana also come from farming marijuana and the canis my bad and the fact that this increas uh cash flow from this one small part of the farm allows the remainder of the farm to cve and actually remain a farm is is the whole point uh if this property isn't eligible for farm and preservation if you know and and again that's a whole different avenue that Mr Piper will have to pursue because it sounded like something was really messed up at some point in the early 2000s are related to zoning if the state thinks it's one zone and the township thinks it's another but I would argue that the township has the zoning map so what the township says it is is what it is the state may have something else for the purposes of farming preservation but you know Franklin Township own theing that anyway just to get back to the argument is it's inherently beneficial but even if the board weren't to find it inherently beneficial this particular property is uniquely situated uh for this uh opportunity basically now you have uh you know three people three neighbors Who come out opposed to it um you have Jason and Ralph who came out to point out technicalities that they disagree with you know I've sat here where there the room has been full of angry people because you know there's a proposed uh cannabis uh manufacturing facility with within 100t or a couple hundred feet of a school you know or something like that this is not that you have a few neighbors who are afraid that It might smell is the long and short of it now we've provided you with testimony as far as how they're going to mitigate the smell they clearly are concerned with keeping the neighbors happy I mean he took the time to go around and talk to every neighbor to try to address their concerns uh he is working with as he testified a professor from Stockton I believe uh for the sole purpose of getting a handle Statewide on sense and marijuana and how you know how they affect it the point is I this property is uniquely situated because it's not near a school it's not near neighbors it's a big open property where the wind will blow any proposed scent back towards the woods um is it possible that there may be a faint scent of something here and there maybe it's not you know to say that that's impossible but there are additional steps that can be taken if it becomes a problem I mean in theory I you know Bill could go smoke cannabis at the corner of this property and the C want to could wh over to the school BS par there I mean it's it's just very hypothetical and not based on an actual harms it's based on I would like not to maybe smell something for a couple weeks at one point in a year but probably not I mean and I get it they they have a right to feel that way I'm not saying that they don't I'm just saying that I the benefits of this far out way any negative but there is no negative to actually the goals of the township the master plan the zoning ordinance you know neighbors are allowed to say I'd rather not live next to that but that doesn't make it harmful you know to the Township's purposes and zoning and things of that nature so for all these reasons I would ask that you grant the conditional use variants the variants uh for the Mixed use along with it uh if if we are able to get a waiver of the site plan we would also ask for variance of the in fence and if not you know we would ask that uh if we you know come back for this open we will ask for it at that point Thank you thank you very much thank you well I don't think anybody's disputing whether cannabis is beneficial to people I mean it certainly is help wise disly and it is a legal it is legal that's the other thing I think remember but is it particularly suited for this piece of property that's the question we need to answer so gentlemen you heard the [Music] testimony anything any the comments from professionals no no I'm I'm any agreement a couple things Mr brand said any kind of heate testimony such as that the chief approved of and I think you can't really accept that as a given unless you had a letter or had him here right about the security yeah I believe the fenes have to be 8ot and it has to be to it has to be what the state says it has to be an OT Fen so can't get away from that all right motion you heard the those sides oh boy this isn't easy hard choices it's got to be done I'm going to make a motion approving this I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not I'm not sure the farm is big enough to support this they have to do this in a way that it doesn't affect the ne oh we need yeah and we do need aite we need to know what's going where how the security is going to be set up we can't let go without without a second have I covered it Mr Mike um main thing a site plan if if the board were to approve it um to make sure there's a site plan there's a lot of issues would have to be addressed all right so a a motion to approve with the site plan not with the site plan not the waiver of the site plan is that right is there a second also second it second by Mike garold motion by Richard glaus Mr got Mr Gano we vote we're voting on approving on the on that approve but the approval is yes on fense yes idea yes but without a site plan with a site plan with a site plan s now we're going to see the site plan again prior to yes I'm I'm a yes on that Mr Ketchum [Music] no Mr gell yes Mr desar no Mr glaus yes chairman griman yes so it's a it's it's denied requires five affirmative affir votes four affirmative votes okay so the public understands you have to have five yes votes for use even though it was four to three sorry okay all right uh no some more applications tonight resolutions Mike uh [Music] yes we just had the one for Paul burgus 30 by 60 detach all right motion to approve the resolution for I make that motion de C second by second Mike garol all in favor I oppos any uh any secretary's report chy no there's not we don't ever get a secretary report any so that's only something I don't know I actually after the last meeting asked Barb about that and they have guess they haven't done anything that needs to come down to us but that's where it comes from all right correspondence Mike anything motion to adjourn I make By Dana seconded by Rich glacius all in favor I [Music] yeah she for