Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Medical marijuana centers in Colorado Springs, being eyed by the City Council for a six-month moratorium, brought in $2 million in city sales tax and license fees last year.
Sales tax revenue skyrocketed from $110,765 in 2009 to $1.49 million last year. And money from license fees is at $528,750 this year, compared with $226,000 in all of 2010. The city also picked up nearly $7,000 over the past five years from marijuana business personal property taxes collected by El Paso County.
But that's all small potatoes compared with the millions spent on leases, super-secure construction, extensive renovations, video cameras and 40-day backup video, motion detectors, employee salaries and benefits, armed guards and "product," i.e. medical marijuana.
The council's proposal would ban more medical marijuana centers and growers from opening in the city for six months.
Council members OK'd such a ban on cannabis clubs Sept. 22, but they punted the decision on medical marijuana enterprises until Oct. 13.
That delay passed on a 7-2 vote, with Councilmen Bill Murray and Tom Strand opposing any reconsideration of a medical marijuana ban.
Murray was incensed that the proposal was presented with little notice, using "emergency powers." He demanded proof of the statement that allowing more such establishments "will cause irreparable harm to the public health, safety and welfare."
None was forthcoming.
The sudden emergence of the plan, sponsored by Councilman Don Knight, also perturbed Strand.
"Even though it was legal to do, it wasn't right," he said.
Proprietors of medical marijuana businesses, who have much to lose, were most outraged.
John Cureton said he first heard about Knight's plan when he got a call at 5 p.m. Sept. 22, advising that the council was about to hear testimony. He was wearing shorts and working on renovations at his new Stained Glass Inc. dispensary, but he raced downtown for the hearing.
Cureton is signing a $400,000 lease Oct. 9 to start a grow operation to supply his dispensary. The lease has to be signed before he can apply for permits and licenses. So if the council enacts the moratorium Oct. 13, Cureton will face great financial harm.
"We have to have that building lease. I applied for this (Stained Glass) license on Aug. 20, 2014, and it didn't come in the mail till March 30, 2015. It's not an easy thing."
The state Marijuana Enforcement Division has a 70-30 rule, dictating that over the course of 12 months, a dispensary has to sell 70 percent of its own product.
"You can buy 30 percent wholesale from other dispensaries," Cureton said. "So if I can't open that grow, it will put me in the position of breaking that rule."
Stained Glass opened Friday at 123 Union Blvd. after a massive investment. Cureton said his lease costs more than $7,000 a month, and he's spent at least $50,000 on renovations.
About $10,000 went to make the bathroom compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, ripping up concrete to move the toilet 1 inch.
A secure vault was built with 4-inch-thick steel walls, and about $14,000 was spent on his 32-camera system, motion and vibration detectors.
The entryway had to be enlarged to 400 square feet, eliminating space that would have been used to grow more plants and requiring $150,000 worth of sheetrock upgrades, Cureton said.
"All the (state and city) licensing combined is over $20,000," he said. "I haven't had any problems with the city. They're very reasonable with people who are abiding by the law. Lee McRae (city license enforcement officer) is fantastic."
Abiding by the law isn't a cakewalk. The laws, rules and regulations fill four binders and two books. Cureton also provides his nine employees with a 28-page book of rules - based not only on state and city regulations, but also on his determination to have the most sanitary, organic, pesticide-free product and dispensary imaginable.
But growers and dispensary operators aren't the only ones who would suffer under the moratorium.
Stan Lewis, 73, has been doing construction in Colorado Springs for 20 years, starting with houses and then segueing into commercial work. When the recession hit in 2008 and 2009, Lewis said, medical marijuana saved his business.
Lewis, whom regulators fondly call "Cannabis Stan," said he's worked on 85 percent of the medical marijuana businesses in the city, pulling more than 435 permits.
Subcontractors "work with us all the time" - architects, engineers, electrical and plumbing crews, heating and air conditioning specialists among them.
"Sometimes we're working on rush orders till 3 to 4 a.m. and all weekend," Lewis said. "Thousands of people have their incomes tied to this."
Don McKay, owner of the Southern Colorado Medical Marijuana dispensary, said his three-year lease cost $360,000 and he spent more than $200,000 to retrofit a 30,000-square-foot warehouse.
"We want to have our options available to expand or move locations or change things," McKay said.
He was annoyed by a council member's suggestion that the moratorium could reduce competition.
"That's not the way to run a business. Any artificial influence on business is always a negative," he said. "The part that really pissed me off: If you want to put a moratorium on it, don't try to sneak it in."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Billie Stanton Anleu
Photo Credit: Jesse Costa
Website: The Colorado Springs Gazette
Sales tax revenue skyrocketed from $110,765 in 2009 to $1.49 million last year. And money from license fees is at $528,750 this year, compared with $226,000 in all of 2010. The city also picked up nearly $7,000 over the past five years from marijuana business personal property taxes collected by El Paso County.
But that's all small potatoes compared with the millions spent on leases, super-secure construction, extensive renovations, video cameras and 40-day backup video, motion detectors, employee salaries and benefits, armed guards and "product," i.e. medical marijuana.
The council's proposal would ban more medical marijuana centers and growers from opening in the city for six months.
Council members OK'd such a ban on cannabis clubs Sept. 22, but they punted the decision on medical marijuana enterprises until Oct. 13.
That delay passed on a 7-2 vote, with Councilmen Bill Murray and Tom Strand opposing any reconsideration of a medical marijuana ban.
Murray was incensed that the proposal was presented with little notice, using "emergency powers." He demanded proof of the statement that allowing more such establishments "will cause irreparable harm to the public health, safety and welfare."
None was forthcoming.
The sudden emergence of the plan, sponsored by Councilman Don Knight, also perturbed Strand.
"Even though it was legal to do, it wasn't right," he said.
Proprietors of medical marijuana businesses, who have much to lose, were most outraged.
John Cureton said he first heard about Knight's plan when he got a call at 5 p.m. Sept. 22, advising that the council was about to hear testimony. He was wearing shorts and working on renovations at his new Stained Glass Inc. dispensary, but he raced downtown for the hearing.
Cureton is signing a $400,000 lease Oct. 9 to start a grow operation to supply his dispensary. The lease has to be signed before he can apply for permits and licenses. So if the council enacts the moratorium Oct. 13, Cureton will face great financial harm.
"We have to have that building lease. I applied for this (Stained Glass) license on Aug. 20, 2014, and it didn't come in the mail till March 30, 2015. It's not an easy thing."
The state Marijuana Enforcement Division has a 70-30 rule, dictating that over the course of 12 months, a dispensary has to sell 70 percent of its own product.
"You can buy 30 percent wholesale from other dispensaries," Cureton said. "So if I can't open that grow, it will put me in the position of breaking that rule."
Stained Glass opened Friday at 123 Union Blvd. after a massive investment. Cureton said his lease costs more than $7,000 a month, and he's spent at least $50,000 on renovations.
About $10,000 went to make the bathroom compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, ripping up concrete to move the toilet 1 inch.
A secure vault was built with 4-inch-thick steel walls, and about $14,000 was spent on his 32-camera system, motion and vibration detectors.
The entryway had to be enlarged to 400 square feet, eliminating space that would have been used to grow more plants and requiring $150,000 worth of sheetrock upgrades, Cureton said.
"All the (state and city) licensing combined is over $20,000," he said. "I haven't had any problems with the city. They're very reasonable with people who are abiding by the law. Lee McRae (city license enforcement officer) is fantastic."
Abiding by the law isn't a cakewalk. The laws, rules and regulations fill four binders and two books. Cureton also provides his nine employees with a 28-page book of rules - based not only on state and city regulations, but also on his determination to have the most sanitary, organic, pesticide-free product and dispensary imaginable.
But growers and dispensary operators aren't the only ones who would suffer under the moratorium.
Stan Lewis, 73, has been doing construction in Colorado Springs for 20 years, starting with houses and then segueing into commercial work. When the recession hit in 2008 and 2009, Lewis said, medical marijuana saved his business.
Lewis, whom regulators fondly call "Cannabis Stan," said he's worked on 85 percent of the medical marijuana businesses in the city, pulling more than 435 permits.
Subcontractors "work with us all the time" - architects, engineers, electrical and plumbing crews, heating and air conditioning specialists among them.
"Sometimes we're working on rush orders till 3 to 4 a.m. and all weekend," Lewis said. "Thousands of people have their incomes tied to this."
Don McKay, owner of the Southern Colorado Medical Marijuana dispensary, said his three-year lease cost $360,000 and he spent more than $200,000 to retrofit a 30,000-square-foot warehouse.
"We want to have our options available to expand or move locations or change things," McKay said.
He was annoyed by a council member's suggestion that the moratorium could reduce competition.
"That's not the way to run a business. Any artificial influence on business is always a negative," he said. "The part that really pissed me off: If you want to put a moratorium on it, don't try to sneak it in."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Billie Stanton Anleu
Photo Credit: Jesse Costa
Website: The Colorado Springs Gazette
