Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
A Boulder marijuana dispensary magnate has pulled out of a deal that, had it been approved, would have brought a retail pot shop to the Three Bears Building in downtown Basalt.
Jack Pease has been in the dispensary business since 2011, when he opened a medical marijuana outlet called The Med Shed. Pease owns two dispensaries in Boulder, as well as an 80,000-square-foot grow operation in Denver. He is in the process of opening three more dispensaries in the next month in Rocky Ford, Pueblo and Boulder.
He had hoped to expand his budding empire to Midland Avenue, but, after a 10-month process that he described as "nightmarish," he has pulled the plug, saying he wouldn't "host a dog-leashing contest in Basalt."
Pease had first approached Mike Scanlon, who, until last August, was Basalt's town manager, in search of an appropriate location for his proposed dispensary.
After two or three false starts, he said Scanlon hooked him up with longtime local Norm Clasen, owner of the Three Bears Building.
"Jack approached me in April of last year with the idea of buying my building so he could open up a dispensary," said Clasen. "We were in constant contact with Mike Scanlon, who ended up writing a 40-page report in favor of the proposal. That report was presented to the town council. Jack and I were both operating under the assumption that things were going well."
Clasen said Basalt had made provisions to allow two retail dispensary licenses within the town limits, one of which had already been issued to RootsRX on Southside Drive.
According to Clasen, things started going south when Scanlon and Basalt parted ways, leaving he and Pease without the man who had been their most enthusiastic advocate until that point.
"My feeling is that downtown Basalt is in economic dire straits, especially since Willits was constructed," Clasen said. "It's busy in the summer, but, after Labor Day, it's pretty dead. My thought was that a marijuana dispensary would not only add sales tax revenue for the town but would also add to downtown's vibrancy, especially in the winter."
But there were issues, most notably with regards to buffer requirements established when Amendment 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in Colorado, went into effect in 2014.
Amendment 64 gave city and county governments broad latitude when it came to implementation and licensing within their jurisdictions. Among other limitations, Basalt opted to invoke a 500-foot buffer between parks and dispensaries, whereas Aspen opted for 150 feet and Glenwood Springs and Carbondale a 200-foot buffer.
According to Clasen, Eagle and Pitkin counties have no such buffer rule.
Clasen's Three Bears Building is located about 400 feet from Lion's Park, where Basalt Town Hall is located.
"It's a park only because there's a sign saying it's a park," Clasen said. "You never see anyone actually using it as a park."
Clasen and Pease began the process of trying to get the buffer distance reduced to 200 feet, but, in October, the town council deadlocked at 3-3, effectively killing the proposal. Almost immediately thereafter, the council voted 5-1 to reconsider the measure at a later date.
The measure to vote once again on relaxing the 500-foot buffer rule has been continued several times and is now on the town council's agenda for a first reading on Feb. 13, according to Clasen, who said he has already made four presentations to the council.
"I wanted to delay the first reading until after the holidays and to give ample time for concerned citizens to weigh in," he said. "Right now, I have a petition signed by 34 downtown business owners supporting my efforts. But I will not make another presentation to the council. I am done prostrating myself."
Pease, the man who got all this started, said he doesn't care if he ever steps foot in Basalt again.
"I have spent a lot of time and money on this already," he said. "I mostly feel bad for Norm. I figured that, with his local connections, this would work. I was already going to pay more for the building than it was worth. I planned to invest [over] $1 million in the operation. It just seems that there are several members of the town council who have their own agenda and were not willing to listen."
Pease refused to name those council members.
Basalt Councilman Auden Schendler said this particular concept is still under consideration by council, and he declined to discuss its specifics. But he wasn't happy that the process took so long.
"I think we should move issues through council rapidly, not drag them out," he said. "In the case of towns considering zoning around pot, I think the challenge is how to be a consistent policymaker, and not make rules arbitrarily. If we have a set of rules for alcohol, but citizens feel those rules shouldn't apply to marijuana, well, why?
"How would a policymaker justify denying pot on Main Street but allowing liquor stores?" Schendler said. "I think that is the challenge councils face. And input from the public on that specific question would be welcome."
Clasen said the opposition has bordered on the ludicrous.
"We have received input from people I call 'the mothers,'" he said. "These are people who argue that they do not want their children exposed to the evils of marijuana. Well, we've got several places that sell alcohol downtown, and alcohol is a lot worse than marijuana. I've seen an awful lot of people bringing their kids into the Brick Pony. I've talked with every sheriff and every school principal in the valley, and they all agree that marijuana use among kids has not gone up at all, and has even gone down, since legalization. It's the job of parents to do the parenting."
Clasen said he and Pease were also on the receiving end of organized opposition from members of St. Vincent Catholic Church, who were operating under the mistaken impression that the dispensary was going to be located directly across from their house of worship.
Clasen said he is not optimistic that the Basalt Town Council will vote in his favor on Feb. 13, and, even if he gets a thumbs up, he is now without a partner, the man with the expertise and financing to run a dispensary.
"I'm going through it because I have spent so much time on this that I just want to hear them vote yeah or nay," he said. "My end of this was simply to sell my building to Jack. That sale was contingent upon the granting of the dispensary license. If they approve the license, I may search for another dispensary operator."
It assuredly will not be Pease.
"This would have been very good for Basalt," he said. "The Three Bears Building is essentially vacant, so we would have helped fill space. It seemed like the town council was just playing games. I've got too much on my plate to play games. If I was to bet, I would say that they are not going to issue the license."
Pease's frustration got so bad that he said he spent $5,000 talking to lawyers about suing the town, on grounds he would not divulge.
"One lawyer, who said we had a 50-50 chance of winning, even offered to take the case on contingency," he said. "That should tell you something."
In the end, though, Pease said life is too short to engage in a legal process that could limp along for three or four years.
He still harbors a strong desire to open up a new dispensary in the Roaring Fork Valley.
"I love it up there," Pease said. "You'll be hearing something from me in the next couple months, but it just won't be in Basalt."
Efforts to get comment from others in Basalt town government before press time were stymied by Monday's legal holiday.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Boulder Marijuana Dispensary Owner Backs Out Of Basalt Deal
Author: M. John Fayhee
Contact: 970-925-2220
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Website: Aspen Daily News Online
Jack Pease has been in the dispensary business since 2011, when he opened a medical marijuana outlet called The Med Shed. Pease owns two dispensaries in Boulder, as well as an 80,000-square-foot grow operation in Denver. He is in the process of opening three more dispensaries in the next month in Rocky Ford, Pueblo and Boulder.
He had hoped to expand his budding empire to Midland Avenue, but, after a 10-month process that he described as "nightmarish," he has pulled the plug, saying he wouldn't "host a dog-leashing contest in Basalt."
Pease had first approached Mike Scanlon, who, until last August, was Basalt's town manager, in search of an appropriate location for his proposed dispensary.
After two or three false starts, he said Scanlon hooked him up with longtime local Norm Clasen, owner of the Three Bears Building.
"Jack approached me in April of last year with the idea of buying my building so he could open up a dispensary," said Clasen. "We were in constant contact with Mike Scanlon, who ended up writing a 40-page report in favor of the proposal. That report was presented to the town council. Jack and I were both operating under the assumption that things were going well."
Clasen said Basalt had made provisions to allow two retail dispensary licenses within the town limits, one of which had already been issued to RootsRX on Southside Drive.
According to Clasen, things started going south when Scanlon and Basalt parted ways, leaving he and Pease without the man who had been their most enthusiastic advocate until that point.
"My feeling is that downtown Basalt is in economic dire straits, especially since Willits was constructed," Clasen said. "It's busy in the summer, but, after Labor Day, it's pretty dead. My thought was that a marijuana dispensary would not only add sales tax revenue for the town but would also add to downtown's vibrancy, especially in the winter."
But there were issues, most notably with regards to buffer requirements established when Amendment 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in Colorado, went into effect in 2014.
Amendment 64 gave city and county governments broad latitude when it came to implementation and licensing within their jurisdictions. Among other limitations, Basalt opted to invoke a 500-foot buffer between parks and dispensaries, whereas Aspen opted for 150 feet and Glenwood Springs and Carbondale a 200-foot buffer.
According to Clasen, Eagle and Pitkin counties have no such buffer rule.
Clasen's Three Bears Building is located about 400 feet from Lion's Park, where Basalt Town Hall is located.
"It's a park only because there's a sign saying it's a park," Clasen said. "You never see anyone actually using it as a park."
Clasen and Pease began the process of trying to get the buffer distance reduced to 200 feet, but, in October, the town council deadlocked at 3-3, effectively killing the proposal. Almost immediately thereafter, the council voted 5-1 to reconsider the measure at a later date.
The measure to vote once again on relaxing the 500-foot buffer rule has been continued several times and is now on the town council's agenda for a first reading on Feb. 13, according to Clasen, who said he has already made four presentations to the council.
"I wanted to delay the first reading until after the holidays and to give ample time for concerned citizens to weigh in," he said. "Right now, I have a petition signed by 34 downtown business owners supporting my efforts. But I will not make another presentation to the council. I am done prostrating myself."
Pease, the man who got all this started, said he doesn't care if he ever steps foot in Basalt again.
"I have spent a lot of time and money on this already," he said. "I mostly feel bad for Norm. I figured that, with his local connections, this would work. I was already going to pay more for the building than it was worth. I planned to invest [over] $1 million in the operation. It just seems that there are several members of the town council who have their own agenda and were not willing to listen."
Pease refused to name those council members.
Basalt Councilman Auden Schendler said this particular concept is still under consideration by council, and he declined to discuss its specifics. But he wasn't happy that the process took so long.
"I think we should move issues through council rapidly, not drag them out," he said. "In the case of towns considering zoning around pot, I think the challenge is how to be a consistent policymaker, and not make rules arbitrarily. If we have a set of rules for alcohol, but citizens feel those rules shouldn't apply to marijuana, well, why?
"How would a policymaker justify denying pot on Main Street but allowing liquor stores?" Schendler said. "I think that is the challenge councils face. And input from the public on that specific question would be welcome."
Clasen said the opposition has bordered on the ludicrous.
"We have received input from people I call 'the mothers,'" he said. "These are people who argue that they do not want their children exposed to the evils of marijuana. Well, we've got several places that sell alcohol downtown, and alcohol is a lot worse than marijuana. I've seen an awful lot of people bringing their kids into the Brick Pony. I've talked with every sheriff and every school principal in the valley, and they all agree that marijuana use among kids has not gone up at all, and has even gone down, since legalization. It's the job of parents to do the parenting."
Clasen said he and Pease were also on the receiving end of organized opposition from members of St. Vincent Catholic Church, who were operating under the mistaken impression that the dispensary was going to be located directly across from their house of worship.
Clasen said he is not optimistic that the Basalt Town Council will vote in his favor on Feb. 13, and, even if he gets a thumbs up, he is now without a partner, the man with the expertise and financing to run a dispensary.
"I'm going through it because I have spent so much time on this that I just want to hear them vote yeah or nay," he said. "My end of this was simply to sell my building to Jack. That sale was contingent upon the granting of the dispensary license. If they approve the license, I may search for another dispensary operator."
It assuredly will not be Pease.
"This would have been very good for Basalt," he said. "The Three Bears Building is essentially vacant, so we would have helped fill space. It seemed like the town council was just playing games. I've got too much on my plate to play games. If I was to bet, I would say that they are not going to issue the license."
Pease's frustration got so bad that he said he spent $5,000 talking to lawyers about suing the town, on grounds he would not divulge.
"One lawyer, who said we had a 50-50 chance of winning, even offered to take the case on contingency," he said. "That should tell you something."
In the end, though, Pease said life is too short to engage in a legal process that could limp along for three or four years.
He still harbors a strong desire to open up a new dispensary in the Roaring Fork Valley.
"I love it up there," Pease said. "You'll be hearing something from me in the next couple months, but it just won't be in Basalt."
Efforts to get comment from others in Basalt town government before press time were stymied by Monday's legal holiday.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Boulder Marijuana Dispensary Owner Backs Out Of Basalt Deal
Author: M. John Fayhee
Contact: 970-925-2220
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Website: Aspen Daily News Online