Posted on January 21, 2026
Upper Township in Cape May County is taking steps to green light its first-ever cannabis dispensary in order to pay for repairs to its battered beaches.
The proposed store would set up shop on Roosevelt Boulevard east of the Garden State Parkway, which would place it on a busy route to the town’s Strathmere section along the beach.
“We’re not going to stop it from coming into our community, so we might as well embrace it and tax it and use it to our advantage,” said Upper Township Mayor Curtis Corson, Jr.
The town’s plan would use 33% of the tax revenue from the cannabis store for a special beach replenishment fund, while the rest will be dedicated for recreation and general expenses.
“We determined that that is the best zone due to the propensity of traffic, maybe some tourism traffic that goes there,” said Upper Township Administrator James Van Zlike.
However, some folks in Ocean City are concerned about the store’s impact on their notoriously dry town, since Roosevelt Boulevard is also a main roadway to get there as well.
“It won’t be restricted to Upper Township,” said Mary Louise, of Ocean City. “They won’t be just smoking it over there. They’ll be doing it here., and it’s not pretty.”
