From lettuce to pot: Lafayette approves marijuana grow facility

LAFAYETTE — A township-based hydroponic grower of leafy greens that supplies products to ShopRite and other tri-state markets is moving out to make way for a very different type of leafy green: cannabis.

The Lafayette Land Use Board in a special meeting held Wednesday night approved an application by the property owner at 152 Hampton House Road, currently the site of fresh salad greens producer Element Farms, to convert their existing operations into a cannabis cultivation site. The board's 8-1 approval, with a lone dissent by member Susanne Van Sickle, will allow a team of cannabis cultivation experts to take over operations of an existing greenhouse to grow, manufacture and produce the plant.

Serdar Mizrakci, managing member of Spearmint Capital, a limited liability company that owns the property, is also the founder and CEO of Element Farms, which uses hydroponic pods and renewable energy to grow their greens. Mizrakci, who has been in operation since 2016, will not be part of the cannabis cultivation and plans to expand his unique operation elsewhere, hopefully at a site in the tri-state area, he said after Wednesday's hearing.

Jan Carlos Byl, who spent several years in the 1990s in Amsterdam learning cannabis cultivation methods before consulting throughout the United States, will serve as chief operations officer at the greenhouse, which measures 67,000-square-feet on a 22-acre tract of land. The property bisects Hampton Township, but the two lots in question were consolidated and the hearing held in Lafayette.

Byl, whose consulting has led him to 17 states, said the North Jersey area is diverse and the cannabis industry is growing, so he is excited to be a "good neighbor" in Lafayette without causing any issues, he said after the hearing. The facility will also benefit the community by employing 25 persons in a staggered shift format, with most working 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, he added.

The facility will not be open to the public or sell cannabis. The greenhouse, located 514 feet from the nearest home and 720 feet from Route 206, also known as Hampton House Road, will be enclosed by a 7-foot-high chain-link fence with access only by those who have access cards, according to Mark Gimigliano, an engineer with Dykstra Walker Design Group who testified on behalf of the applicant. A security guard will be on premises 24/7 to monitor the gates and screen those arriving, which is mandated by the state for all cultivation sites, he said.

Inside the hydroponic greenhouse, which reuses water and provides environmental controls, one plant per square foot will utilize one liter of water per day, with a closed loop system reusing the return water the next day, Gimigliano said. The growth cycle from seed to harvest in 100 days, with an estimated five harvests per year with the drying and curing of the cannabis flower being done within a sealed area for security, odor and environmental control, he said.

Deliveries to and from the site will be by box trucks during operating hours. There is no activity expected at night since, as Byl noted, the plants are "sleeping." Cannabis plants require 12-hour cycles of light and dark with supplemental LED lights operating during cloudy days. A blackout curtain will mitigate the chance of light pollution and will be engaged 15 minutes before dusk and retracted 15 minutes after dawn each day.

The facility will operate on a "closed loop" ventilation system and will employ negative air pressure to eliminate air exchange from the cultivation area, Gimigliano said. Fans will be installed on the south wall of the building, which Gimigliano said was agreed by the applicant at the request of an adjacent neighbor. Noises will also be limited to around 50 decibels during the day — about the sound of a quiet library — since generators will run on natural gas and not diesel, he added.

In February 2021, New Jersey became the 14th state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and almost a year later, the state began accepting applications for cultivators, manufacturers and testing labs.

Lafayette adopted an ordinance in May 2021 to allow certain licensed facilities to grow and process marijuana wholesale within certain areas of the township. Retail pot stores are not permitted to operate.

The Land Use Board held a special meeting on Wednesday, and not on the usual Thursday, due to scheduling conflicts with some of the professionals. The Board's approval Wednesday night came six weeks after Mizrakci submitted the application. The ordinance will be considered for final passage on March 16, or if the meeting is canceled, March 23.

Additional information on the application and site plan is on the Lafayette Township website.

Lori Comstock can be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Lafayette NJ Land Use Board approves marijuana grow facility