Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2013
Source: Vail Daily (CO)
Copyright: 2013 Vail Daily
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wo3Ts7AI
Website: http://www.vaildaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3233
Author: Lauren Glendenning

VAIL DODGES POT ISSUE AGAIN

VAIL -- The town of Vail has to decide by Oct. 1 whether it wants to 
ban or allow the commercial sale of recreational marijuana in town.

The town council discussed new state marijuana regulations Tuesday, 
specifically the state legislation that outlines how recreational 
marijuana retail businesses will be licensed and taxed.

State legislation also paves the way for local jurisdictions to 
either or approve or ban retail marijuana businesses, as well as tax 
them locally.

The town currently has a moratorium on retail marijuana business 
applications that expires Aug. 6, but council members directed Matt 
Mire, the town attorney, Tuesday to draft an ordinance that either 
extends that moratorium or creates a temporary ban on commercial 
marijuana sales through Jan. 1, 2014. Mire will bring the ordinance 
back for two readings next month, with public comment opportunities 
at both meetings.

The council appeared divided on the issue Tuesday. Councilman Kevin 
Foley was not present, but has supported the issue in the past along 
with Councilwoman Margaret Rogers, who feels strongly about what the 
voters approved last November.

"We very often have to try to determine for our constituents what 
they would want us to do," she said. "There are occasions, and this 
is clearly one of them, where we don't have to guess what they want 
us to do. They've told us what they want us to do."

Councilman Ludwig Kurz said the vote tally may have suggested that 
local residents were overwhelmingly supportive, but he argued that 
the election brought out an usually large number of 18 to 
24-year-olds who came out to vote specifically on that issue.

Councilwoman Susie Tjossem didn't comment, while Councilman Greg 
Moffet appeared supportive of allowing the shops with heavy 
regulation. Councilwoman Kerry Donovan and Mayor Andy Daly want to 
continue to wait it out to see both how state regulations play out 
and how other jurisdictions handle it before making any decisions locally.

"I'm a big, fat, solid 'maybe' on this one," Donovan said.

The town of Vail does not allow medical marijuana shops in town per 
an ordinance passed in July 2010.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom