Six applicants were chosen by the state Department of Health to advance in the process for obtaining permits for medical marijuana dispensaries, including one with plans for a cultivation site in Rahway.

Wyckoff-based Verano NJ, LLC, was chosen to open a cultivation site in Rahway with a dispensary in Elizabeth. Other facilities were chosen in Phillipsburg, Paterson, Ewing, Vineland, and another application would open a cultivation facility in Galloway with a dispensary in Atlantic City. Two sites were chosen for three regions in the state: North, Central and South. Rahway/Elizabeth and Ewing were in the Central region.

The Health Department received 146 applications for six open slots. There were 50 applicants for the northern region, 45 in the central region and 51 in the southern region. If the six new sites become operational, New Jersey would have 12 dispensaries across the state.

Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal said state officials will meet with the six applicants early next year to “refine their timetable for growing product and opening their doors.” The six applicants still must pass background checks as well as provide evidence of a dispensary location and municipal approval.

In Rahway’s case, that came in September when City Council adopted a resolution in support of operating an Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) within the city, “under certain conditions.” The resolution specifically supports the location within areas zoned as light industrial (I-L) and heavy industrial (I-H).

According to the city’s zoning map, there’s a wide swath of I-H zones along the city’s southern border with Avenel, up to New Brunswick and East Hazelwood avenues and east as far as Leesville Avenue. There’s a few other areas zoned as I-L in the neighborhood of Hart Street and East Hazelwood Avenue and another at the Linden border, around Felver Court and East Lincoln Avenue.

The Department of Health estimates a patient population of almost 38,000 statewide, including almost 14,000 in the Central region.