A cannabis dispensary’s dreams of opening in the Village neighborhood of Downtown Jersey City went up in smoke this week when a not-in-my-back-yard campaign swayed the city’s Cannabis Control Board.

Complaints had been lobbed by parents, local business owners and a real estate developer against The Green Ashram because it’s proposed location, 17 Division St., is near schools and a private daycare. An online petition against the business’ location garnered nearly 1,000 signatures.

The NIMBY lobbying ultimately worked, even if the critics couldn’t specify anything illegal about the business: The city’s cannabis board rejected the Green Ashram application, 3-1, Monday, effectively shutting out any chances of it opening.

The denial is believed to be the first time a Jersey City cannabis applicant was rejected because of community outrage — as opposed to regulations — in a city where officials have embraced the cannabis industry and dozens of businesses have applied after statewide legalization.

“There’s not been a mobilization like this,” said board member Stacey Flanagan. “Yes, half of this is dreams, and half of this is reality. The reality is (that) you need to do more to get more, and I don’t feel like that was accomplished here.”

Through an attorney, the owners of The Green Ashram declined to comment on the rejected application.

Green Ashram’s three co-owners had planned to work with a domestic violence organization, host expungement clinics and hire minorities to fulfill the required social equity component. They also had a few endorsements, including from a local cannabis workers’ union. But the community was steadfast against the application at the meeting.

Parents whose children attend the Brunswick School, a private daycare, said the hundreds of kids that attend would be put at risk, and so would students at the public schools nearby.

“The family part of Newark Avenue, there’s so many children,” said Zoe Martinson, who has a child that attends the Brunswick School. “There are two parks that have kids events in the summer, there’s a daycare that has a lot of students, there’s child haircuts, there’s Little Gym, it’s just an area that isn’t conducive (and) doesn’t serve the community.”

Jersey City regulations say that a cannabis business must submit to the board a list of childcare centers within 200 feet of its location for consideration. No such places were flagged; Green Ashram is roughly 340 feet away from Brunswick School. Also, cannabis laws, like alcohol statutes, prohibit cannabis use in public.

So far, only two cannabis applicants in Jersey City have state approval to open: Blossom Dispensary on Tonnelle Ave., who plan to open in this fall after obtaining final local approvals, and WR Wellness in the Powerhouse Arts District, who’s opening date was unable to be determined.

Last year, another Downtown cannabis applicant, Local Modiv, sued to overturn a cannabis board rejection over a supposed lack of local support. A judge ruled in favor of the applicants and remanded it back to the board, and was eventually approved this January.

Jersey City residents voted by a 3-to-1 margin in the 2020 statewide referendum to legalize marijuana, with 61,449 people voting yes and 19,475 voting no.