The town trustees will discuss new laws that will guide the licensing of new recreational marijuana stores during their upcoming meeting on May 14.
The town moratorium on the recreational sale of marijuana will expire June 30 and town plans to have two new sets of laws in place by July 9 to govern the potential new shops, according to a town staff report.
The new laws would give the town board the ability to act as the Retail Marijuana Local Licensing Authority.
The drafted guidelines prohibit the creation of smoking clubs and selling recreational marijuana from a mobile vehicle. It also prohibits people under 21 from entering a marijuana store. Under state law, those under 21 can't purchase marijuana.
Store locations may also be restricted. Any recreational marijuana store could not be within a residential zoning district. Any new location would have to be 1,000 feet from a school and 500 feet from a day care, public park, library or open area used by the general public. Hours could be limited to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The application process could require business owners to provide a floor plan, a description of security measures and products for sale.
The draft measures would require business owners and managers to submit to a background check.
Felons or those with a questionable history, law enforcement officers or any business currently licensed to sell food could be prohibited from opening a shop, according to the ordinances. The laws would also require potential business owners to be state residents for two years.
Local operating fees for the first year could be set at $3,000 for the first year, and $2,000 for every following year. Businesses could pay $1,000 for every license following the first one.
Two of the current owners of Beacon Wellness, the medical marijuana store in Mancos, have expressed interest in opening a recreational marijuana site.
The proposed regulations would allow a retail marijuana establishment to be co-located with a medical marijuana facility as long as the total square footage of the building is less than 5,000 square feet.
The proposed regulations do not include a potential transaction fee on recreational marijuana. The voters gave the town board the authority to impose a transaction fee of up to $10 on each recreational marijuana purchase in April.
That fee may be set by a different law later in the summer, said Town Administrator Andrea Phillips.
The new draft laws totaling 28 pages can be found on the town's website at Mancoscolorado.com.
The town board will discuss the draft regulations on May 14 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, but the trustees will not vote on the issue.
mshinn@cortezjournal.com
