West Amwell sued over marijuana farm approval for alleged conflict of interest

WEST AMWELL – A farmer has filed suit against the township Planning Board, challenging its approval this summer of a cannabis cultivation facility in a vacant church.

Woodmeier Farms, on Rock Road West, also named Green Medicine NJ in the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Hunterdon County. Green Medicine NJ received Planning Board approval in July to convert the former First Pentecostal Prayer of Faith Church into a 30,000-square-foot cultivation facility at the intersection of Rock Road West and Route 518.

It's the second lawsuit that Woodmeier Farms has filed about the cultivation facility. In June, Woodmeier filed suit against Green Medicine NJ and the Hunterdon County Department of Health over the septic inspection of the site. That suit is still pending in court.

In the latest lawsuit, 41 pages long, Woodmeier Farms asks for the approval of the project to be reversed based on allegations there was a violation of the state's Local Government Ethics Law.

That charge is based on the allegation that Charles Latini, the township's former zoning officer and special planner, became employed by Green Medicine on the day after the Township Committee on Nov. 17, 2021, adopted the cannabis ordinance which, the lawsuit says, Latini drafted.

Latini's resignation as zoning officer, however, was effective Dec. 1, 2021, which meant, the lawsuit charges, that for at least two weeks Latini was employed by both West Amwell and Green Medicine NJ. His resignation as special planner was effective Dec. 31

After his resignation from the township, Latini wrote a report analyzing Green Medicine NJ's application for the cultivation facility that was sent to the Planning Board on Jan. 14.

Tara St. Angelo, the Planning Board's attorney, wrote to Green Medicine NJ's attorney in late January that Latini should not serve as the company's planner because of a conflict of interest, according to the suit, and that he may be violating the rules of the New Jersey State Board of Planners because he was now representing a cannabis cultivator after he wrote the cannabis ordinance.

St. Angelo wrote that Latini's conflict is "an unnecessary complication in this matter that could result in litigation," the suit says. She suggested that Green Medicine NJ hire another planner.

Though Latini agreed to "step back" from Green Medicine NJ's application, he continued to work for the company, according to the lawsuit.

On Feb. 2, Kyle & McManus Associates wrote a report on the application on behalf of Green Medicine NJ and, according to the lawsuit, large sections were identical to Latini's report.

On April 7, Latini sent an email to township officials’ response to comments and concerns that had been made about the application, the suit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the Planning Board was "permanently tainted" by Latini's actions.

Woodmeier is also asking that the township's cannabis ordinance be voided because Latini's work on the ordinance "directly benefited" Green Medicine NJ and "prejudiced his independent judgment," the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit also charges that the ordinance allowing cannabis cultivation was "spot zoning" because the church property was the only available lot in the Neighborhood Commercial zone.

Green Medicine NJ is the "only beneficiary' of the Cannabis Ordinance in the neighborhood commercial zone, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also charges that Green Medicine NJ was required to obtain a use variance from the zoning board because a part of the property is in the Sourlands Regional Planning District where cannabis cultivation is not a permitted use.

The suit also alleges that the board's approval was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable" because it relied on testimony by Bruce Zimmerman, who was not a licensed engineer in New Jersey.

The suit also alleges the Planning Board granted approval without Green Medicine NJ presenting any information about its stormwater system and relied on incorrect standards for commercial septic users.

The Planning Board has denied the allegations in the lawsuit and has requested that it be dismissed.

Green Medicine NJ has also denied the charges and has filed a counterclaim against Woodmeier, alleging that the lawsuit was filed "solely to interfere with Green Medicine's legitimate economic interests and not to redress any legitimate or colorable legal right."

WoodMeier Farms has also made an appeal to the Appellate Divsion, challenging the license granted to Green Medicine NJ, by the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Green Medicine NJ bought the 22-acre parcel with the 29,000-square-foot empty church building for $2.45 million.

The township has signed a host community agreement with Green Medicine NJ calling for the company to pay an annual $100,000 community fee for five years, a total of $500,000 if the facility is built.

Green Medicine NJ also has agreed to pay the township a 2% tax based on its gross revenue in medical marijuana sales.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ marijuana: West Amwell sued over weed farm approval