Jacob Bell
New Member
LAFAYETTE -- Longmont pot shop owners, booted from the city after a ban on medical marijuana went into effect last month, are looking to their southern neighbor for a little commercial hospitality.
In the last few weeks, Lafayette has received inquiries from former Longmont medical marijuana businesses about the city's application process.
"Longmont did a prohibition, and we're seeing an interest," City Administrator Gary Klaphake said.
Rachel Gillette, an attorney who represents medical marijuana business owners, said it's not surprising that Lafayette seems like fertile ground for the industry.
"We're sort of in this bubble in east Boulder County where grow operators aren't allowed until you get down to Denver," she said.
That includes Louisville, where dispensaries are legal but growing operations are not.
"Lafayette's unique because it has allowed optional premises cultivation and is taking applications for them," Gillette said.
But while Lafayette may be the most marijuana-friendly community immediately east of Boulder, it is hardly rolling out the cannabis carpet. The city passed a medical marijuana ordinance in the spring that severely restricts where shops and growing operations can locate.
It disallows dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools, hospitals or other medical marijuana centers; within 500 feet of residential areas and day-care centers; and within 800 feet of U.S. 287 and Colo. 7. And no more than five lots containing infused product manufacturing or marijuana growing operations are permitted.
Jill Lamoureux, managing member of Colorado Dispensary Services, said those regulations mean establishing a new medical marijuana storefront in Lafayette won't be easy. Add to that the City Council's recent decision to sharply raise fees -- applicants must now pay $3,000 for a new license application and $1,500 for an annual renewal license application -- and Lafayette isn't exactly a marijuana mecca.
"I don't think (the city) is going to be a bastion for people who need to move," said Lamoureux, whose 5,000-square-foot grow house and infused products operation in an industrial section of the city has been up and running since 2009.
She said she submitted her application under the new regulations two weeks ago. Lamoureux said city staffers were taken aback by the amount of paperwork she had to file, which filled two boxes. The application included extensive financial and background information on all 15 of her employees and the 10 people who have some type of ownership stake in Colorado Dispensary Services.
"The city is doing its due diligence and they've been really great to work with, but I don't think they know quite the breadth of what they were asking for," she said. "They may want to go back again and streamline it."
Alison Neeld, owner of Ka-Tet Wellness Services -- Lafayette's only dispensary --said the process has been arduous enough that she warns any newcomers that getting through the city's licensing process will take time, money and lots of patience.
Neeld has been waiting for months to get a business license for her new storefront location on South Boulder Road. In the meantime, she must pay rent on both the new space and her existing location on U.S. 287, which she will be forced to close down by year's end because it falls outside the city's medical marijuana district.
"I'm almost 10 grand into that building," she said of her prospective location in Plaza Lafayette. "I'm just ready for this lengthy, costly process to be complete."
Neeld said the volume of business at her 2-year-old shop has bloomed since Longmont's ban went into effect, and she would have no problem with another dispensary or two moving into the city.
"We all view each other as competition, but we all work together," she said. "There's plenty to go around."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Longmont's banned medical marijuana shops eye Lafayette
In the last few weeks, Lafayette has received inquiries from former Longmont medical marijuana businesses about the city's application process.
"Longmont did a prohibition, and we're seeing an interest," City Administrator Gary Klaphake said.
Rachel Gillette, an attorney who represents medical marijuana business owners, said it's not surprising that Lafayette seems like fertile ground for the industry.
"We're sort of in this bubble in east Boulder County where grow operators aren't allowed until you get down to Denver," she said.
That includes Louisville, where dispensaries are legal but growing operations are not.
"Lafayette's unique because it has allowed optional premises cultivation and is taking applications for them," Gillette said.
But while Lafayette may be the most marijuana-friendly community immediately east of Boulder, it is hardly rolling out the cannabis carpet. The city passed a medical marijuana ordinance in the spring that severely restricts where shops and growing operations can locate.
It disallows dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools, hospitals or other medical marijuana centers; within 500 feet of residential areas and day-care centers; and within 800 feet of U.S. 287 and Colo. 7. And no more than five lots containing infused product manufacturing or marijuana growing operations are permitted.
Jill Lamoureux, managing member of Colorado Dispensary Services, said those regulations mean establishing a new medical marijuana storefront in Lafayette won't be easy. Add to that the City Council's recent decision to sharply raise fees -- applicants must now pay $3,000 for a new license application and $1,500 for an annual renewal license application -- and Lafayette isn't exactly a marijuana mecca.
"I don't think (the city) is going to be a bastion for people who need to move," said Lamoureux, whose 5,000-square-foot grow house and infused products operation in an industrial section of the city has been up and running since 2009.
She said she submitted her application under the new regulations two weeks ago. Lamoureux said city staffers were taken aback by the amount of paperwork she had to file, which filled two boxes. The application included extensive financial and background information on all 15 of her employees and the 10 people who have some type of ownership stake in Colorado Dispensary Services.
"The city is doing its due diligence and they've been really great to work with, but I don't think they know quite the breadth of what they were asking for," she said. "They may want to go back again and streamline it."
Alison Neeld, owner of Ka-Tet Wellness Services -- Lafayette's only dispensary --said the process has been arduous enough that she warns any newcomers that getting through the city's licensing process will take time, money and lots of patience.
Neeld has been waiting for months to get a business license for her new storefront location on South Boulder Road. In the meantime, she must pay rent on both the new space and her existing location on U.S. 287, which she will be forced to close down by year's end because it falls outside the city's medical marijuana district.
"I'm almost 10 grand into that building," she said of her prospective location in Plaza Lafayette. "I'm just ready for this lengthy, costly process to be complete."
Neeld said the volume of business at her 2-year-old shop has bloomed since Longmont's ban went into effect, and she would have no problem with another dispensary or two moving into the city.
"We all view each other as competition, but we all work together," she said. "There's plenty to go around."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Longmont's banned medical marijuana shops eye Lafayette
