A Hoboken cannabis dispensary mired in controversy for nearly two years has opened its doors as the city’s first recreational use-only store, despite a looming lawsuit ruling that could force its owners to close the shop.
Blue Violets, located on Sixth and Washington streets, launched a surprise soft opening Saturday, April 20, the unofficial weed holiday. It’s the second legal cannabis business to open in the city.
The store has attracted “not in my backyard” opposition from critics who say it’s too close to two nearby schools — Hoboken Charter School and All Saints Episcopal Day School. It later prompted a lawsuit by a local watchdog group to stop it from opening.
“We avoided all of (the protests),” said Blue Violets co-owner Max Thompson, who’s running the business with his wife, Lauren, about the surprise opening. “No one had anything to say. No one tried to frustrate us from opening.”
The dispensary had all of its appointments “booked” on Saturday, with at least three councilmembers among the store’s first clients. The store is currently appointment-only on weekday evenings and the weekend.
“It’s nice to see that small business owners, who put their life savings into opening up a business and follow the rules, are able to open their doors in a long fight for them,” said Councilman Phil Cohen, who was one of Blue Violet’s customers over the weekend.
There was uncertainty over whether Blue Violets would open after Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis (HRC) initially succeeded in its lawsuit that argued the dispensary violates a city law that requires dispensaries to be at least 600 feet from a school. Blue Violets is less than 375 feet from the two schools.
A superior court judge ordered last October to vacate Blue Violet’s planning board approval, which would’ve prevented it from opening. The judge said that its application was only completed after the city amended the school proximity law to 600 feet.
But the dispensary owners appealed the decision and a state appellate panel of judges issued a stay against the lower court’s order and allowed Blue Violets to proceed with opening, pending a final decision.
Thompson was optimistic about the recent opinion by the appellate panel stating that “it has a reasonable probability of success on the merits, and the balance of the relative hardships weighs in its favor,” but he added that he doesn’t have “full confidence” about the eventual appellate decision.
“It’s not like once we got the stay, we started taking a bet,” he said. “We took that bet already. The stay allowed us to continue with that bet. So without a doubt, we’re still in a place of risk.”
Thompson has been pushing for the city council to change the city’s dispensary rules following the lower court’s order. Legislation was proposed in February that would loosen the requirements for how close a dispensary can be from a school, but it has been tabled for further negotiations.
Councilman Joe Quintero, who was one of the sponsors of that legislation, said the focus of the new legislation will be on enforcement, but added that the distancing rules are still “the most contentious piece.”
“I think (Blue Violets) is going to be a non-issue in the neighborhood,” said Quintero, who was also a customer at the store over the weekend. “I expect them to be good neighbors, as they had proven to be from the beginning.”
For the time being, Blue Violets is the second cannabis business to open in the city after The Station, which initially opened for medicinal-only sales last October before expanding to recreational sales in February.
HRC founder Elizabeth Urtecho did not respond to a request for comment on Blue Violets’ opening.
