The residents of Woodcliff Lake are not comfortable with locating a Marijuana Dispensary in our Town. We do not want dispensaries near our schools and residential neighborhoods.

We encourage everyone in Woodcliff Lake, especially those with children – to ask yourselves the following question: “Am I ok with having a cannabis dispensary in the backyard of where I live?"

Although a majority of Woodcliff Lake residents voted to legalize marijuana use, we DID NOT vote to have dispensaries in our neighborhoods.

Significant concerns that we have include the following: traffic volumes intensifying, loitering, crowding and lines, increased noise, littering, decreased home valuations, misdistribution of cannabis to our minors, reputational harm to the town, increase in crime, and harm to our ability to attract other commercial and retail tenants, just to name a few. In fact, a Woodcliff Lake dispensary would be the first one in New Jersey to be north of Route 4, thus, drawing a significant influx of people from all over Northern Jersey and Rockland County into our small Borough.

Woodcliff Lake is NOT like other towns, such as Rochelle Park, where cannabis dispensaries have been opened. We are a family-oriented community where the vast majority of real estate is residential. In this vein, we understand that the only two commercial districts in Woodcliff Lake are Broadway Avenue (in the East Side residential neighborhood) or on Chestnut Ridge Road (by the Woodmont residential neighborhood). Neither area is suitable for a marijuana dispensary. We also understand that Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali has indicated that Montvale has no intention, now or in the future, of locating a dispensary on Chestnut Ridge Road, or anywhere else in Montvale.

Based on public comments to date, Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo has indicated he is opposed to a marijuana dispensary in town. We hereby ask the members of the Borough Council to join him in opposing a dispensary. There are simply too many unknowns and too much at stake to permit this type of business in our community.