SWEDESBORO – A lawsuit was filed on Oct. 3 by The Greenhouse of Swedesboro, LLC and Jennifer Baus. They are asking to reverse the decision of the Swedesboro Borough Council’s award of the cannabis license to The Jersey Joint Dispensary Swedesboro LLC. The Borough Council approved the license to Jersey Joint Dispensary on Aug. 19, awarding them the only Cannabis Business License in the borough.
The civil suit is alleging that the Borough of Swedesboro took part in unconstitutional conduct regarding the solicitation, acceptance and approval of the Cannabis Business License Application in connection with Greenhouse/Baus’ application for the Cass V Cannabis Retail License.
Jennifer Baus, owner of The Greenhouse of Swedesboro, is asking that the courts take away Jersey Joint’s approved license and give the approval to Greenhouse. The civil suit, countered by the borough on Oct. 7, will be heard by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Gloucester County, on Nov. 12.
According to Baus’ suit, in late 2023 communications began between Greenhouse and Swedesboro Mayor Tom Fromm and Swedesboro Councilman Shaun Booker concerning Baus’ interest in obtaining the Cannabis Retail License (CRL). Swedesboro’s counter suit states that on April 15, 2024 during one of the meetings, Fromm handed the required business license ordinance and planning zoning ordinance to Greenhouse representative, Kris Wilson, a Greenhouse consultant and friend of Baus.
Expecting the application, Baus stated that Wilson did not get an application, but was given a copy of the ordinance for allowing Cannabis in Swedesboro.
On May 20, the borough passed the Business License Ordinance and the Zoning ordinance although the application form had not yet been created.
According to the Swedesboro suit, on May 21, Wilson emailed the borough with questions about the forms that he was given by Fromm. Baus stated that application forms were requested.
The Borough Clerk said she just saw the question about the zoning and referred them to the planning board. That same day they were emailed the zoning/planning application.
Baus questioned and was told two different times that Greenhouse was given the correct application. Baus considered this now to be false representations.
Baus’ suit states that, because of not receiving all the forms, the borough made it impossible for her to obtain a license. Swedesboro’s counter suit states that it is the responsibility of the applicant to find out what forms are required, not municipal officials.
According to the Borough’s suit, on June 6 the borough completed its license application and application checklist, and it was circulated to employees, and they were instructed to distribute to anyone who requested it.
Later that day, claimed the Swedesboro’s lawsuit, Jersey Joint picked up a copy of the application materials. On June 10, Swedesboro received the completed Business License Application from The Jersey Joint Dispensary.
Baus said she believes she was given the wrong application, and she alleges that Jersey Joints was given the official one.
From May 21 to Sept. 9, Greenhouse worked on the application and reiterated multiple times to Borough officials, that the application was extensive and required significant professional work and time.
On July 1, after a presentation to borough council and evaluation and scoring, the borough approved the business license application for Jersey Joint Dispensary LLC.
Later, a problem with the approval arose when Jersey Joint notified the borough that because they already had a CRL with another facility it owned, a different entity would need to be created to obtain approval from the borough. The entity formed Jersey Joint Dispensary Swedesboro LLC.
On Aug. 8, Jersey Joint requested that the ordinance awarding Jersey Joint Dispensary the approval be rescinded and awarded to Jersey Joint Dispensary Swedesboro LLC who submitted a new application. This was done on Aug. 19.
Baus is alleging Jersey Joint did not resubmit their application under the new company name.
On Sept. 3, the borough introduced an ordinance to reduce the number of Class V Cannabis Retailer Licenses from two to one. This was done, according to Swedesboro’s suit, because of the small size of the borough.
At that time, Baus questioned the borough’s change from allowing two cannabis businesses in the borough to one as the original ordinance called for. The Borough suit states that Baus had previously campaigned for this reduction from two to one.
Baus hand delivered her planning application on Sept. 9 and was informed on Sept. 10 by
Swedesboro Borough Solicitor Timothy Scaffidi, that there were no available Class V licenses. On Sept. 12 Baus submitted both of the complete planning and business forms. On Sept. 17, Baus indicated to the borough attorney that she still wanted the full application submitted.
Baus’ suit states that as per requirement, applicants must submit proof that they have or will have lawful possession of the premises proposed for the cannabis retail location and Jersey Dispensary hadn’t. Baus said that she already had ownership of her proposed location at 1981 Kings Highway, Swedesboro.
According to the Borough’s suit, Jersey Joint Dispensary Swedesboro had agreed to lease terms with the right to lease and occupy the premises at 2030 Kings Highway, Swedesboro.
The Swedesboro lawsuit stated that Jersey Joint Swedesboro was approved by the borough because it has more experience in the retail cannabis business and had better financing.
Baus is also alleging discrimination. She stated that initially her three consultants who met with the Mayor were all white men. They had successful meetings. When borough officials met with Baus, who is black, she said she was treated disrespectfully.
The borough’s suit claims there were no such discriminatory actions.
By Karen E. Viereck, Editor/Publisher
