Long-vacant diner on Route 73 could see new life as a cannabis dispensary

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read

MOUNT LAUREL – The former Sage Diner could soon be offering a different kind of herb.

A Cherry Hill firm wants to convert the long-empty restaurant into a cannabis dispensary, according to an application before Mount Laurel’s planning board.

Marijuana on the menu

The proposal by NJ Green Care LLC is the second cannabis application to involve a defunct diner in this area.

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Another firm, Enlighten Health & Wellness LLC, already has approval from Evesham's planning board to operate a dispensary at the former Marlton Diner on Route 70.

In addition, NAAVI Realty LLC is pursuing approval from Mount Laurel's planning board to open a weed store at a former Denny's restaurant that most recently held Oceancrat The Boiling Seafood and Ramen Mini-Hot Pot.

Both the NAAVI site and the Sage Diner site are off Route 73 near Church Road.

NJ Green Care plans no changes to the exterior of the 5,700-square-foot Sage. The parking lot also would be unchanged, its application says.

Security required

But the dispensary operator would have to present a security plan to the township’s police department.

That plan must identify “the type and manner of 24-hour security, tracking and record-keeping of products and materials, surveillance systems ... and whether any armed security will be on the premises," the application says.

The diner closed after its former operators, Kostas "Gus" and Stella Roustas filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2017. Property records show the building was sold for $1.8 million to its current owner, Giannakaris Enterprises, in April 2019.

NJ Green Care will go before the planning board later this month to request approval for a change of use at the Sage.

The company is based at a home in Cherry Hill, according to the application. Its stockholders include Vaisnar Phoeung of Cherry Hill and two men from Los Angeles.

An attorney for the firm could not be reached for immediate comment Wednesday.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Former Sage Diner could become a cannabis dispensary in Mount Laurel