Update 2 : Meeting for Nov 17th is CANCELLED. Posted on the Mantua Township website.
Update: The September meeting was postponed at the last minute. It is rescheduled for November 17, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
Mantua Twp has posted the Zoning Board Appeal application (PDF) which outlines the applicants reasoning for wanting this approved.
Mantua has listed this under Bids and Notices
A massive greenhouse complex at 510 Mantua Boulevard, adjacent to Delaware Valley Florist is slated to become a giant 110,000 sq ft medical marijuana grow facility. The greenhouses were previously owned by Matsui Nursery (post was updated from to clarify this) and the Land Use meeting is Tues Sept 15 2020… just 90 mins from this article being published! TONIGHT TUESDAY!
This is a grow only facility. There will be no direct dispensing to consumers at this location. It will be grown here and shipped to licensed dispensaries in the state.
The property and associated business are owned by Acreage Holdings. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, they purchased the facility in April 2018 (2017?).
The legal notice states
The application will seek amended preliminary and final major site plan and use variance approval to permit the cultivation of medical cannabis within an existing 110,235 sq. ft. commercial greenhouse located on the Property
Basically that is the size of the former K-Mart building in Mantua… plus another 10%
In my non lawyer reading of the public notice, it seems to indicate this can go as large as 207,000 Sq Ft?
A 2018 the Philadelphia Inquirer covered the story in depth and it seems it’s taken this long for the project to get to planning (or is this a return presentation?).
There are homes located nearby, and the Inquirer article calls out
Air filters would be installed to control the plant’s odor. “We want to be good neighbors,” Hague said
The meeting is TONIGHT! The night of this article being published
Mantua Township Land Use Board
September 15, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
Mantua Township Municipal Building
401 Main Street
Mantua, NJ 08051,