Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The City Council and city staff are moving ahead to license retail marijuana stores, and we are impressed with the thoughtful care that they are exercising in doing so.
Tuesday night, the council approved the regulations that will govern the licensing process. Those rules include:
For now, there will be eight marijuana stores; four north of the Arkansas River and four south.
Retail store owners will pay an annual fee of $15,000, with the renewal fee to be $10,000.
There will be buffer zones, with no stores within 300 feet of residences, 500 feet of substance abuse treatment centers and 1,000 feet of a school.
That means, for practical purposes, that the stores will be located in some fairly obscure parts of the city. Which is fine with us. And for customers, well, we suspect they'll manage to find the stores.
The council also agreed to give special consideration to the three medical marijuana stories already operating within the city limits in the eventuality that they decide to apply for a retail license. That makes sense; those businesses already have complied with local and state rules and are operating properly.
The council also will give extra points if the applicant conducts a neighborhood petition. We encourage the council to give this a high priority. For example, consider the concerns raised by Pueblo Diversified Industries about a medical marijuana store, concerns that may not have been given enough consideration.
The city's licensing board intends to start taking applications in January and award the initial licenses in March.
Tuesday night, there was some discussion of eliminating the need to divide the eight stores by the river, but District 4 Councilman Ray Aguilera said he was concerned all the stores could end up in the Bessemer area. That was sound thinking. The rest of the council agreed with Aguilera's concern, so it kept the river boundary regulation.
The council also was looking at a rule that prospective licensees prove that they have $200,000 available to open their business. But since marijuana operations struggle to deal with the money issue – since marijuana is still banned by the federal government, there are significant issues involving using banks – the council decided to drop that requirement. After all, one person commented, did the council really want to require prospective licensees to produce a duffel bag stuffed with 2,000 Benjamins?
Overall, we have been impressed with the City Council and city staff for the way they've handled this delicate issue. It began with the council's decision to wait a couple of years after state legalization and ask city voters if they wanted retail marijuana stores within the city limits. And it continued through this past Tuesday's meeting.
It goes without saying – but forgive us for saying it anyway – that the city will need to be equally diligent in monitoring the new stores to ensure that they are operating properly.
Based on what we've seen so far from city leadership and staff, many of our worries have been eased.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: We Appreciate The City's Cautious Approach To Licensing Pot Stores
Author: Staff
Contact: (719) 544-3520
Photo Credit: Alessandro Bianchi
Website: The Pueblo Chieftain
Tuesday night, the council approved the regulations that will govern the licensing process. Those rules include:
For now, there will be eight marijuana stores; four north of the Arkansas River and four south.
Retail store owners will pay an annual fee of $15,000, with the renewal fee to be $10,000.
There will be buffer zones, with no stores within 300 feet of residences, 500 feet of substance abuse treatment centers and 1,000 feet of a school.
That means, for practical purposes, that the stores will be located in some fairly obscure parts of the city. Which is fine with us. And for customers, well, we suspect they'll manage to find the stores.
The council also agreed to give special consideration to the three medical marijuana stories already operating within the city limits in the eventuality that they decide to apply for a retail license. That makes sense; those businesses already have complied with local and state rules and are operating properly.
The council also will give extra points if the applicant conducts a neighborhood petition. We encourage the council to give this a high priority. For example, consider the concerns raised by Pueblo Diversified Industries about a medical marijuana store, concerns that may not have been given enough consideration.
The city's licensing board intends to start taking applications in January and award the initial licenses in March.
Tuesday night, there was some discussion of eliminating the need to divide the eight stores by the river, but District 4 Councilman Ray Aguilera said he was concerned all the stores could end up in the Bessemer area. That was sound thinking. The rest of the council agreed with Aguilera's concern, so it kept the river boundary regulation.
The council also was looking at a rule that prospective licensees prove that they have $200,000 available to open their business. But since marijuana operations struggle to deal with the money issue – since marijuana is still banned by the federal government, there are significant issues involving using banks – the council decided to drop that requirement. After all, one person commented, did the council really want to require prospective licensees to produce a duffel bag stuffed with 2,000 Benjamins?
Overall, we have been impressed with the City Council and city staff for the way they've handled this delicate issue. It began with the council's decision to wait a couple of years after state legalization and ask city voters if they wanted retail marijuana stores within the city limits. And it continued through this past Tuesday's meeting.
It goes without saying – but forgive us for saying it anyway – that the city will need to be equally diligent in monitoring the new stores to ensure that they are operating properly.
Based on what we've seen so far from city leadership and staff, many of our worries have been eased.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: We Appreciate The City's Cautious Approach To Licensing Pot Stores
Author: Staff
Contact: (719) 544-3520
Photo Credit: Alessandro Bianchi
Website: The Pueblo Chieftain
