New Jersey § 24:6i-45

§ 24:6i-45.

Municipal Regulations or Ordinances. a. A municipality may enact ordinances or regulations, not in conflict with the provisions

of P.L.2021, c. 16 ( C.24:6I-31 et al.): (1) governing the number of cannabis establishments, distributors, or delivery services,

as well as the location, manner, and times of operation of establishments and distributors,

but the time of operation of delivery services shall be subject only to regulation

by the commission; and (2) establishing civil penalties for violation of an ordinance or regulation governing

the number of cannabis establishments, distributors, or delivery services that may

operate in such municipality, or their location, manner, or the times of operations. b. A municipality may prohibit the operation of any one or more classes of cannabis

establishment, or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services, but not the

delivery of cannabis items and related supplies by a delivery service, within the

jurisdiction of the municipality through the enactment of an ordinance, and this prohibiting

ordinance shall apply throughout the municipality, even if that municipality or parts

thereof fall within any district, area, or other geographical jurisdiction for which

land use planning, site planning, zoning requirements or other development authority

is exercised by an independent State authority, commission, instrumentality, or agency

pursuant to the enabling legislation that governs its duties, functions, and powers,

even if this development authority is expressly stated or interpreted to be exclusive

thereunder; the local prohibiting ordinance applies, notwithstanding the provisions

of any independent State authority law to the contrary. Only an ordinance to prohibit one or more classes of cannabis establishment, or

cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services enacted pursuant to the specific

authority to do so by this section shall be valid and enforceable; any ordinance

enacted by a municipality prior to the effective date of this section addressing the

issue of prohibiting one or more types of cannabis-related activities within the jurisdiction

of the municipality is null and void, and that entity may only prohibit the operation

of one or more classes of cannabis establishment, or cannabis distributors or cannabis

delivery services by enactment of a new ordinance based upon the specific authority

to do so by this section. The failure of a municipality to enact an ordinance prohibiting the operation of

one or more classes of cannabis establishment, or cannabis distributors or cannabis

delivery services within 180 days after the effective date of P.L.2021, c. 16 ( C.24:6I-31 et al.) 1 , shall result in any class of cannabis establishment, or a cannabis distributor or

cannabis delivery service that is not prohibited from operating within the municipality

as being permitted to operate therein as follows: the growing, cultivating, manufacturing,

and selling and reselling of cannabis and cannabis items, and operations to transport

in bulk cannabis items by a cannabis cultivator, cannabis manufacturer, cannabis wholesaler,

or as a cannabis distributor or cannabis delivery service shall be permitted uses

in all industrial zones of the municipality; and the selling of cannabis items to

consumers from a retail store by a cannabis retailer shall be a conditional use in

all commercial zones or retail zones, subject to meeting the conditions set forth

in any applicable zoning ordinance or receiving a variance from one or more of those

conditions in accordance with the “Municipal Land Use Law,” P.L.1975, c. 291 ( C.40:55D-1 et seq. ). At the end of a five-year period following the initial failure of a municipality

to enact an ordinance prohibiting the operation of one or more classes of cannabis

establishment, or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services, and every five-year

period thereafter following a failure to enact a prohibiting ordinance, the municipality

shall again be permitted to prohibit the future operation of any one or more classes

of cannabis establishment, or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services

through the enactment of an ordinance during a new 180-day period, but this ordinance

shall be prospective only and not apply to any cannabis establishment, distributor

or delivery service operating in the municipality prior to the enactment of the ordinance. c. (1) When the commission receives an application for initial licensing or renewal

of an existing license for any cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service

pursuant to section 19 of P.L.2021, c. 16 ( C.24:6I-36 ), or endorsement for a cannabis consumption area pursuant to section 28 of P.L.2019, c. 153 ( C.24:6I-21 ), the commission shall provide, within 14 days, a copy of the application to the

municipality in which the establishment, distributor, delivery service, or consumption

area is to be located, unless the municipality has prohibited the operation of the

particular class of business for which licensure is sought pursuant to subsection

b. of this section, or in the case of an application seeking a consumption area endorsement,

prohibited the operation of cannabis retailers. The municipality shall determine whether the application complies with its local

restrictions on the number of cannabis establishments, distributors, or delivery services,

or their location, manner, or times of operation, and the municipality shall inform

the commission whether the application complies with its local restrictions. (2) A municipality may impose a separate local licensing or endorsement requirement

as a part of its restrictions on the number of cannabis establishments, distributors,

or delivery services, or their location, manner, or times of operation. A municipality may decline to impose any local licensing or endorsement requirements,

but a local jurisdiction shall notify the commission that it either approves or denies

each application forwarded to it. 1

L.2021, c. 16, eff. Feb. 22, 2021 (contingent operative).