A New Jersey appellate court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a cannabis cultivator against a group of residents who opposed its proposed facility in Lebanon Township.

The judges ruled that the opposition group was protected under the right to free speech.

The NAR Group sued the Save Lebanon Township Coalition and several residents, alleging they acted in bad faith to block the company’s plans to open a cannabis cultivation site in Hunterdon County.

The lawsuit claimed one defendant, William Bohn, initially sought to invest in the project and later planned to open his own cannabis facility. When his investment bid was rejected, the NAR Group alleged Bohn helped form the coalition to derail the project.

Attorneys for the NAR Group and the Save Lebanon Township Coalition did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the court decision.

The lawsuit is one of a growing number of allegations related to the municipal cannabis facility approval process.

Save Lebanon Township Coalition attorneys argued the claims in the lawsuit lacked evidence and that residents had a constitutional right to petition the government during the municipal approval process.

“More importantly, plaintiff’s allegations run headlong into a bar that vindicates a core constitutional right belonging to every American: the right to seek redress from one’s government,” the coalition’s lawyers wrote in court filings.

The appellate court agreed with the lower court’s ruling, citing the Noerr-Pennington doctrine — a legal precedent that shields political speech, including lobbying and petitioning the government.

The doctrine includes an exception for petitions that are baseless or intended solely to harm a business, but judges found that did not apply in this case. The appellate court also found that examining the motivation for the case fell outside of the court’s scope.

The NAR Group still has pending lawsuits against Lebanon Township.

Under New Jersey law, municipalities can ban cannabis businesses, set limits on licenses or decide which types of facilities to allow. About 36% of municipalities statewide have opted to permit cannabis operations, according to state data.