Loud Labs plans to open a marijuana product manufacturing factory in this warehouse in Sandy Brae Industrial Park.
Loud Labs plans to open a marijuana product manufacturing factory in this warehouse in Sandy Brae Industrial Park.
A proposal for a marijuana product manufacturing facility in Newark is moving forward to a final vote later this month after the planning commission gave it a stamp of approval Tuesday night.
Loud Labs, which already has factories in Colorado, Michigan and New Jersey, will use the facility to produce gummies and other edible products, vape cartridges, concentrates, extracts and pre-rolled marijuana products.
“We are proud to invest in Newark as part of our next phase of growth,” said Jake Berry, managing partner of Loud Labs. “Our facility will create local employment opportunities across operations, administration and logistics. We also plan to engage with local vendors and contractors whenever possible, supporting the regional economy.”
Pending approval, the 6,000-square-foot factory will be located in a warehouse at 303 Markus Court in the Sandy Brae Industrial Park off Otts Chapel Road. It will be across the street from where Herbal Growers LLC recently received approval to operate an indoor marijuana growing facility.
The factory will receive deliveries from local growers and then ship the finished products to dispensaries for sale. There will be no on-site sales.
Loud Labs was founded in 2015 and employs 30 people across three states. Its brands include Pyramid vape pens, Doinks flavored blunts, Zoobies gummies and Rejuv transdermal patches.
The Newark facility will employ 15 people and operate Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. A Newark resident works in the company’s New Jersey factory and is being trained to lead the Newark operations.
Berry said he sees Delaware as a good market to enter and more profitable than some other states due to the state limiting the number of marijuana licenses available.
Berry said the facility will have strict safety measures, including alarms, cameras and a steel-reinforced room to store products in overnight. None of Loud Labs’ other facilities have experienced a theft or break-in, he said.
Despite the company’s name, Berry promised the factory would not be loud enough to disturb neighbors. Likewise, he doesn’t expect any issues with odors escaping, adding that there will be advanced air filtration equipment.
Per state law, the factory will not have any signs or branding identifying it as a marijuana facility, but Loud Labs will post a phone number and email address on the door in case neighbors have a concern about noise or odor.
In order to operate in Newark, any marijuana-related business requires a special-use permit approved by city council.
City council was slated to vote on Loud Lab’s proposal last month, but the vote was delayed due to a potential legal challenge from a neighboring property owner.
City code stipulates that any special-use permit application for a property over one acre must be heard by the planning commission first, then go to city council. Applications for smaller sites go directly to council.
In this case, the 303 Markus Court property has multiple buildings and is over one acre, but Loud Labs is only renting one 6,000-square-foot unit. The city planning department has always interpreted such instances as not needing to go to the planning commission.
However, a nearby property owner who opposes the project has threatened to sue the city to challenge that interpretation. To avoid a lengthy court battle that could be expensive for both the city and Loud Labs, council agreed to table the vote and send it to the planning commission.
Following the planning commission’s unanimous recommendation for approval Tuesday, the project is slated for a city council vote Jan. 26. It appeared last month that a majority of council members were in support of the project, even if reluctantly.
The planing commission also voted Tuesday to recommend city council pass an ordinance clarifying that in similar situations — when a proposal relates to only a portion of a larger property — it can go directly to city council for a vote.
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