Pubdate: Wed, 06 Feb 2013
Source: Steamboat Today, The (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Steamboat Pilot & Today
Contact: http://www.steamboattoday.com/submit/letters/
Website: http://www.steamboattoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1549
Author: Scott Franz

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL PASSES TEMPORARY EMERGENCY ORDINANCE
BANNING PRIVATE MARIJUANA CLUBS

Steamboat Springs - Steamboat Springs has joined a growing list of
municipalities in Colorado that have adopted emergency ordinances
temporarily banning the establishment of private marijuana clubs.

Tuesday night's Steamboat Springs City Council passage of an emergency
moratorium will prevent the formation of any marijuana clubs within
city limits until the council has a chance to start crafting a more
permanent ordinance regulating all facets of Amendment 64, which
legalized the consumption of marijuana in the state for adults 21 and
older.

Whether the city plans to ban private pot clubs permanently won't be
clear until officials and the community have the chance to discuss it
in detail.

As he proposed the emergency ordinance Tuesday night, Steamboat
Springs Public Safety Director Joel Rae said it would help to
eliminate a "gray area" and a loophole some are finding in Amendment
64.

"There are marijuana clubs popping up around the state of Colorado,
and we've heard rumors of one or two possibly opening in Steamboat
Springs," Rae told the City Council. "We want a stop-gap on this issue."

Rae said Wednesday that he and other city officials haven't taken a
position on whether private marijuana clubs ever should be allowed in
the city.

"We'll get into the weeds on that when we get into the weeds of
everything else," Rae said, adding that it will be up to the council
and the public to decide how all aspects of Amendment 64 should be
regulated in Steamboat. That includes decisions about marijuana grow
operations to cultivation to recreational pot shops.

"It's really going to be a question of how much of an impact the
community of Steamboat Springs wants to see when it comes to
marijuana," Rae said.

The city plans to introduce soon another ordinance banning pot clubs
that will outlast the 90-day emergency moratorium passed Tuesday. The
second ordinance would expire when the council adopts a broader
ordinance regulating the impacts of the Amendment 64.

The issue of private marijuana clubs first popped up in late December
when one started in Denver. Memberships to that club cost $29.99 and
allowed people to gather and consume pot in an industrial area north
of downtown Denver.

The ordinance adopted by the Steamboat Springs City Council does not
apply to residential areas.

City Attorney Tony Lettunich said one of the issues with marijuana
clubs is whether they violate city and state laws prohibiting smoking
in certain areas, including businesses.

"It's kind of a gray area we hope comes into more of a focus next
month," Lettunich said.

In addition to Steamboat, the cities of Craig, Palisade and Fruita
recently passed moratoriums banning the establishment of private pot
clubs.

Many other cities in Colorado also have adopted temporary moratoriums
banning the establishment of any recreational marijuana businesses.

Steamboat Springs City Council members passed on such an ordinance in
November, saying it was unnecessary because no recreational marijuana
facility legally can open anywhere in Colorado before Oct. 1, 2013,
the date by which the Department of Revenue is supposed to begin
accepting and processing applications for marijuana businesses, per
the provisions of Amendment 64. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D