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Boulder adopted a series of updates to its medical marijuana regulations Thursday night in advance of the expiration next week of a moratorium on new pot businesses and a statewide referendum on whether recreational use of marijuana should be legalized.
Attorneys who represent marijuana businesses had raised concerns that the ordinance would make it too easy for the city to shut down businesses for minor violations, while city officials said it simply makes existing rules and guidelines for licensing more explicit and easier to understand.
At a public hearing on the proposed ordinance, no one spoke against it. Instead, the owners and employees of several grow operations located in Boulder but with dispensaries in other cities asked elected officials not to ban their businesses.
The ordinance updates do not include any measures affecting grow operations for out-of-town dispensaries, but the city staff had asked the City Council to weigh in on whether the grow operations should be banned or have to pay additional fees because their product does not generate any sales tax for the city.
The business owners said they provide jobs and spend money on materials and supplies in Boulder and pointed out that they are located in industrial areas that would not have retail operations in them if they were to move.
A few council members said they would be open to raising fees on the grow operations, but none wanted to ban such businesses.
However, they said they might need to revisit the issue and develop additional regulations if Amendment 64 -- which would amend the Colorado constitution to allow for recreational marijuana -- is approved by voters next week.
The City Council voted 8-0 to approve the ordinance updates. Councilman Tim Plass was absent.
The new ordinance raises fees for all marijuana licenses and renewals, limits advertising, imposes new regulations on manufacturers of infused products and bars landlords from renting to unlicensed growers, among other changes.
The license application fee will increase to $3,790 from $3,115, and the renewal fee will increase to $2,750 from $2,075. City officials said the increase should allow them to cover all the costs of administering the licensing program.
The update removes language that requires marijuana businesses to have a bank account because so many banks refuse to accept such accounts.
City Council members decided to keep a 500-foot barrier around schools, even though the federal government has been sending enforcement letters to marijuana businesses within 1,000 feet of schools.
The council approved the updates as an emergency ordinance so that they will be in effect when the moratorium expires next week.
Boulder tax and license manager Mishawn Cook said existing businesses that have had to move have had a hard time finding retail space in Boulder that complies with both the underlying zoning and the city's limitations on proximity to other pot businesses.
She said she does not anticipate a lot of new applications after the moratorium expires.
From an initial 125 marijuana business license applications, Boulder now has 27 dispensaries and medical marijuana centers, 34 cultivation facilities and six infused product manufacturers.
However, the city will face a new set of decisions if Amendment 64 passes, including whether to allow or ban retail stores for non-medical marijuana and whether any of the rules for recreational sales should be different.
"If Amendment 64 passes, we'll be back here talking about all of this," Mayor Matt Appelbaum said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: Erica Meltzer
Contact: Contact Us - Boulder Daily Camera
Website: Boulder updates medical marijuana rules in advance of moratorium expiration - Boulder Daily Camera
Attorneys who represent marijuana businesses had raised concerns that the ordinance would make it too easy for the city to shut down businesses for minor violations, while city officials said it simply makes existing rules and guidelines for licensing more explicit and easier to understand.
At a public hearing on the proposed ordinance, no one spoke against it. Instead, the owners and employees of several grow operations located in Boulder but with dispensaries in other cities asked elected officials not to ban their businesses.
The ordinance updates do not include any measures affecting grow operations for out-of-town dispensaries, but the city staff had asked the City Council to weigh in on whether the grow operations should be banned or have to pay additional fees because their product does not generate any sales tax for the city.
The business owners said they provide jobs and spend money on materials and supplies in Boulder and pointed out that they are located in industrial areas that would not have retail operations in them if they were to move.
A few council members said they would be open to raising fees on the grow operations, but none wanted to ban such businesses.
However, they said they might need to revisit the issue and develop additional regulations if Amendment 64 -- which would amend the Colorado constitution to allow for recreational marijuana -- is approved by voters next week.
The City Council voted 8-0 to approve the ordinance updates. Councilman Tim Plass was absent.
The new ordinance raises fees for all marijuana licenses and renewals, limits advertising, imposes new regulations on manufacturers of infused products and bars landlords from renting to unlicensed growers, among other changes.
The license application fee will increase to $3,790 from $3,115, and the renewal fee will increase to $2,750 from $2,075. City officials said the increase should allow them to cover all the costs of administering the licensing program.
The update removes language that requires marijuana businesses to have a bank account because so many banks refuse to accept such accounts.
City Council members decided to keep a 500-foot barrier around schools, even though the federal government has been sending enforcement letters to marijuana businesses within 1,000 feet of schools.
The council approved the updates as an emergency ordinance so that they will be in effect when the moratorium expires next week.
Boulder tax and license manager Mishawn Cook said existing businesses that have had to move have had a hard time finding retail space in Boulder that complies with both the underlying zoning and the city's limitations on proximity to other pot businesses.
She said she does not anticipate a lot of new applications after the moratorium expires.
From an initial 125 marijuana business license applications, Boulder now has 27 dispensaries and medical marijuana centers, 34 cultivation facilities and six infused product manufacturers.
However, the city will face a new set of decisions if Amendment 64 passes, including whether to allow or ban retail stores for non-medical marijuana and whether any of the rules for recreational sales should be different.
"If Amendment 64 passes, we'll be back here talking about all of this," Mayor Matt Appelbaum said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: Erica Meltzer
Contact: Contact Us - Boulder Daily Camera
Website: Boulder updates medical marijuana rules in advance of moratorium expiration - Boulder Daily Camera
