SPARTA, NJ – Petition Committee Aims to Overturn Cannabis Ordinances
A group of concerned citizens in Sparta, NJ, has formed a committee in an effort to overturn the cannabis ordinances recently passed by Mayor Neill Clark and Councilmen Dan Chiariello and Dean Blumetti. The committee is actively collecting signatures from Sparta residents to challenge the ordinances and invites those interested to get involved by emailing NoPotStores4Sparta@gmail.com.
Under Sparta’s Faulkner form of government, a petition can be sponsored by five individuals to initiate a repeal of the ordinance. To make the petition valid, the committee must gather signatures from 15% of the voters who participated in the most recent General Assembly election. According to NJSA 40:69A-184, this means the committee needs to collect signatures from 711 registered Sparta voters, as 4,740 residents cast ballots in the 2023 election.
The clock is ticking, as the petitions must be submitted to the township clerk within 20 days of when the council passed Ordinances 25-07, 25-08, and 25-09. If the petition is submitted on time, the ordinances will be suspended until the petition process is completed.
Once the petition is submitted, Sparta Township Clerk Roxanne Landy has 20 days to verify the validity of the signatures. If she finds the petition to be insufficient, the committee will have 10 additional days to submit more signatures to correct the deficiencies, as per NJSA 40:69A-189. If this happens, the clerk will have another five days to review the new signatures. If the petition still does not meet the required number of valid signatures, the effort will come to an end.
However, if the petition is deemed sufficient, the township council will be required to vote again on the ordinances. According to NJSA 40:69A-191, if the council does not repeal the ordinances within 20 days of the petition's certification, the matter will be put to a referendum. In this case, Sparta residents will have the final say in a special election on whether or not to allow the cannabis ordinances to stand.
The committee is committed to ensuring that Sparta voters have a voice in this critical decision and is working diligently to gather the necessary signatures to bring this issue to a vote. Those interested in helping or learning more can reach out via email.
