Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 2015
Source: Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO)
Copyright: 2015 Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/ys97xJAX
Website: http://www.postindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/821
Author: John Stroud

CHAMBER STANCE HELPED SWAY POT LICENSE DENIALS

Recent decisions by Glenwood Springs City Council to uphold the city 
liquor and marijuana licensing official's denials of two new retail 
marijuana shops were swayed in part by a formal position statement 
from the Glenwood Chamber Resort Association board.

"This is a complicated subject involving the will of voters to 
legalize recreational marijuana; marketplace fairness and free 
enterprise; the unexpected consequences of marijuana legalization; 
and the public and social perception of Glenwood Springs as a tourist 
town because of the proliferation of retail marijuana outlets in our 
downtown core," Chamber CEO Marianne Virgili wrote on behalf of the 
board in a July 1 letter addressed to Mayor Michael Gamba.

Virgili said the chamber's board weighed the issue prior to the July 
2 appeal hearings for the Green Dragon retail store and edibles 
kitchen on Grand Avenue and the Recreational Releaf Dispensary on 
10th Street, and decided to take a stance opposing the requests.

In addition, council members received more than 85 emails from 
residents, business owners and frequent visitors to the city opposed 
to the latest license requests, before voting to uphold hearing 
officer Angela Roff's denials.

Council members cited those emails and other comments, either on the 
street, via telephone and at the hearing itself, in rejecting what 
would have been the only stand-alone retail marijuana outlets not 
connected to an existing medical dispensary.

"I've never seen this many people show up for something like this, or 
the number of emails we got, not one of them in favor," Councilor 
Todd Leahy noted at the hearing before voting to deny the 
Recreational Releaf application.

Councilor Kathryn Trauger referenced a frequent argument by license 
applicants and their supporters, which is that more than 60 percent 
of Glenwood city voters favored Amendment 64 in the 2012 election.

The landmark measure that paved the way for legal possession and 
retail sales of marijuana for recreational use passed with more than 
55 percent of the vote statewide in an election year that saw a more 
than 70 percent turnout of registered voters statewide.

In spite of the support locally for that measure, "we are elected to 
represent 100 percent of the city's residents," Trauger said in 
voting to uphold the licensing decision.

The chamber, in its letter recommending City Council deny the new 
license requests, said the downtown core in particular is not the 
appropriate place for a large number of retail marijuana stores.

"There has been a lot invested in the downtown by individual property 
and business owners, the city, the Downtown Development Authority, 
Colorado Mountain College, the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort 
Association and Garfield County ...," Virgili wrote in the letter.

"Investments that include time, money and planning to make our 
community a desirable place to live, work, play and do business," she 
wrote. "As we consider these investments we need to realize the 
negative effect the addition of more marijuana retail stores has on 
the visual image of the family-friendly community that we have worked 
so hard to create.

The chamber board also reiterated its support for the city's decision 
to put a 90-day moratorium on new marijuana license applications 
while council revisits the city's marijuana licensing and related 
land-use regulations.

"We appreciate the moratorium and emphasize that this is clearly the 
time for city council to reevaluate the marijuana sales policy and 
figure out what is working and what isn't," Virgili said in the 
letter. "We already have numerous retail marijuana outlets downtown - 
they are so obvious that we do not get inquiries in our visitor 
center about where and how to purchase marijuana."

Meanwhile, even though the moratorium is in effect until early 
September, several marijuana business license requests that were 
already in process before it was enacted are winding their way 
through the process.

Last week, Roff heard the request of Martin's Naturals, an existing 
medical marijuana dispensary at 216 Sixth St., to expand into retail 
sales. Roff is to make her decision on that license by Aug. 8.

If denied, that decision could also be appealed to City Council. 
However, an approval is not subject to appeal under the city's 
marijuana licensing rules, which is one of the provisions that will 
likely be discussed by council as it reviews the regulations.

Council is also slated to hear a land-use proposal at its regular 
meeting this Thursday by Osiris, LLC to build a new marijuana 
cultivation facility and retail store at 2150 Devereux Road. The 
city's planning and zoning commission, at a June 23 hearing, 
recommended approval of the facility.

If approved by council, Osiris would be allowed to formally apply 
with the city for a retail sales license, since its land-use 
application was filed before the moratorium was enacted.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom