Two Dispensary Owners Plan Fight Over Medical Marijuana Ban in Longmont

Jacob Bell

New Member
Longmont -- Longmont`s medical marijuana dispensaries plan to fight a city law that would shut them down on July 1.

Dispensary owners Allyson Feiler of Nature`s Medicine and Derek King of New Age Wellness said Wednesday they would push a ballot issue that would let Longmont voters decide if their shops should be closed. The two helped craft a petition that has been submitted to city clerk Valeria Skitt; Skitt must approve the petition before supporters can try to gather signatures.

The proposed ballot measure would allow existing dispensaries to stay open and new ones to come into the city. All dispensaries would have to locate in industrial areas, pay a $1,000 licensing fee and donate 1 percent of their annual revenue to an anti-drug program of the mayor`s choice.

"We basically want to make sure we`re doing a lot for the community," King said.

The City Council banned dispensaries and other marijuana-related businesses Tuesday by a unanimous vote. The ban takes effect July 1, the deadline for communities either to ban or regulate the businesses themselves before state laws take effect.

The vote punctuated a debate that had been going at least since 2009, when Longmont issued a moratorium on any new dispensaries.

"They say 'Take your time! Take your time!'" Councilman Gabe Santos said before Tuesday`s vote. "We`ve taken our time."

Now, it`s the dispensaries that have to take their time -- both in circulating a petition and in preparing to move should either the petition or a vote fail.

"I want to be as close to my patients as possible," King said. "Within 15 or 20 minutes of this location is my stretchiest boundary."

Feiler said she was considering spots in unincorporated Boulder County or in Berthoud. On Tuesday, Berthoud voted to narrow where dispensaries could go, confining the legal zoning for them to a 12-acre area.

Moving is easier said than done, though. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, a dispensary`s business license is tied to its location. Existing dispensaries cannot apply for a new business license until July 1.

In the case of dispensaries that have been banned from a city, there`s an extra step, said Julie Postlethwait of the department`s medical marijuana enforcement division. Those businesses have to file a voluntary withdrawal of their license application, she said, which puts it in a "pending" file until July 1. Without that withdrawal, Postlethwait said, the state would have to automatically deny the application on that day.

Meanwhile, those wanting to set up shop just over the city limits have their own challenges. Few spots in unincorporated Boulder County have both the proper zoning and proximity to Longmont, city planner Ben Ortiz said. In checking the map, he could find two small county-owned areas that fit. The first, near East Rogers Road, east of Martin Street, already has one listed dispensary called Jackass Organics; the second sits east of Hover Street, near the Roger`s Grove area.

Boulder County land use director Dale Case said any dispensaries moving into the county also would need either a site plan review or special use review, unless they were moving into a property that had previously been used for retail, professional services or offices. That`s in addition to any state or county requirements -- including the new licensing plan Boulder County is creating.

"There`s still some uncertainty there," Case said.

Skitt said she received the dispensary petition on Wednesday; an earlier version had been given to her last week, she said, but had to be redone by Feiler and King to make some minor corrections. Skitt now has five business days to review the petition and make sure its form is legally correct.

Once released by Skitt, the petition must receive 5,315 valid signatures to go to a referendum. There`s no hard deadline to turn it in, but two soft ones do apply:

To have the measure on November`s ballot, Skitt said, it would be best to turn the petition in by July 1 to allow time for review and challenges. Skitt certifies the ballot in September.

Once the petition is turned in, no signature older than three weeks can be accepted.

"As a rule of thumb, I tell people to try to get 15 to 20 percent more signatures than they need," said Skitt. "Then they`re usually pretty safe."

It`s a situation Feiler has seen before. A Nature`s Medicine shop in Grand Junction joined with other dispensaries to push a referendum on banning the businesses to the city ballot. On April 5, 57 percent of the voters upheld the ban.

She likes her chances better in a Boulder County city, she said.

"There`s a good chance of us getting something to the ballot and an even better chance of getting it approved by the voters," she said.

King said the dispensaries also might seek an injunction suspending Longmont`s ban until the issue goes to the ballot box or the petition fails.


News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: Scott Rochat
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Two dispensary owners plan fight over medical marijuana ban in Longmont
 
Back
Top Bottom