The Place for Jersey City News
Log In / Register
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Jersey City Times
  • News
  • Food and Fun
    • Food And Drink
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Other Fun Stuff
  • Education
  • Business
  • Neighborhoods
    • Downtown
      • News
      • Guide
    • Heights
      • News
      • Guide
    • Journal Square
      • News
      • Guide
    • Bergen Lafayette
      • News
      • Guide
    • Greenville
      • News
      • Guide
    • Westside
      • News
      • Guide
  • Opinion
  • Columns
    • Eye Level
    • Mamarama
  • Obituaries
  • Event Calendar
  • Support our Mission
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

Aaron Morrill
August 4, 2022/in Business, Downtown, header, Latest News, Narrate, News, Trending Now
by Aaron Morrill

A troubled “CBD Outlet” on the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Mall that has highlighted the difficulty of balancing marijuana legalization and quality of life, has been shuttered by authorities over building code violations.

According to a notice posted in the window of Smokers Paradise at 131 Newark Avenue, the owners of the shop have been ordered to vacate the premises “forthwith.”

“You completed the alteration without obtaining permit and inspection, installation of sign, electric work, and convert salon to smoke shop; you also failed to obtain a CO [certificate of occupancy]. Shop must be closed forthwith,” reads the notice dated August 3.

A certificate of occupancy, issued by the city, confirms that the building or unit is safe, complies with building codes, and is being used in accordance with zoning laws.

Smokers Paradise has attracted more than its fair share of controversy since opening earlier this year in a space formerly occupied by a nail salon.

Last month, mayoral spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione told the Jersey Journal that the city’s Quality of Life Task Force had found what was believed to be raw marijuana, marijuana-infused food products, and illegal flavored tobacco vape products in the store. Evidence was being cataloged, and charges were pending, Wallace-Scalcione said.

According to Scalcione, the task force had been alerted to the illegal sales after officials from the Office of Code Compliance uncovered what they believed to be illegal waste dumped by the shop. Scalcione did not respond to an email requesting an update on the case.

Notice of Unsafe Structure at Smokers Paradise Jersey City

Notice of Unsafe Structure at Smokers Paradise

The shop has also elicited grumbling from some local merchants for what is seen as its down-market brightly lit Times Square aesthetic.

One nearby business owner who asked to remain anonymous is concerned that Smokers Paradise and shops like it will be off-putting to families. “It’s very worrisome. I’m worried about families coming in. All you smell is weed in the air … which is fine … whoever wants to smoke it can smoke it … it’s a free country, but it needs to be monitored. It’s going to be like little Amsterdam. We can’t build or create a family environment having all this stuff around us. The plaza looks great, but there’s an enormous decline in the amount of families that come around this area.”

Municipal Prosecutor Jake Hudnut told the Journal “Lawful dispensaries have a number of regulations imposed on them by the state that they have to be compliant with to ensure quality of life in the surrounding communities.”

Disclosure: The writer owns a business next to Smokers Paradise

Tags: Jersey City Business and Economics
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
You might also like
Price Gougers Beware: Big Fines Await You
Anna Prilutsky, Eleni Retzepis, Franchesca Doell, and Anjali Kapoor Five Local Princeton Sophomores Launch Business to Help Online Grocery Shoppers
A Movie Studio Opens in Jersey City
Worker with placard demanding unemployment benefits New Jersey’s Unemployed Fret About Federal Benefits Expiring
Gov. Phil Murphy said the cost of extending benefits is prohibitive. (Photo by Danielle Richards for New Jersey Monitor) State Won’t Extend Expiring Unemployment Benefits
Abandoned couch on street Courts Begin To Hear Long-Stalled Eviction Cases
City Hall, Jersey City Jersey City Uniquely Slow in Distributing Federal Rental Assistance
Flooded automobiles Jersey City Residents and Businesses Now Eligible for Federal Ida Disaster Relief
Jersey City, US
8:24 am, August 11, 2022
72°F
overcast clouds
Wind: 8 mph
Pressure: 1013 mb

Latest Articles

ShopRite Jersey City
August 10, 2022 /

ShopRite Makes Dairy Cheaper for SNAP Customers

Museum of Jersey City History board members in front of Apple Tree House
August 09, 2022 /

Museum of Jersey City History is One Step Closer to Reality

August 08, 2022 /

Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Caven Point Protection Act

Jersey City Medical Center
August 08, 2022 /

Medical Center to Receive Gun Violence Intervention Funding

Jersey City Police Car
August 07, 2022 /

One Man Dead and Another Critical After This Morning’s Shooting

CONTACT US

    ADS/INFO

    For information on advertising opportunities, please contact - ads@jcitytimes.com

    For information on writing opportunities, please contact - info@jcitytimes.com

    Download our media kit here

    ABOUT US

    About Jersey City Times

    Contact Jersey City Times

    Social

    Archives

    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    Copyright © 2020 JCityTimes.com. All Rights Reserved - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme
    “We Outside!!” Hip-Hop Series Kicks Off at Barrow Mansion Katelyn Halpern Katelyn Halpern Turns Deep Space Into a “Disaster [Place]”
    Scroll to top