The town trustees will discuss new laws that will guide the licensing of new recreational marijuana stores during their upcoming meeting on May 14.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The new laws would give the town board the ability to act as the Retail Marijuana Local Licensing Authority.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t purchase marijuana.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The application process could require business owners to provide a floor plan, a description of security measures and products for sale.<\/p>\n
The draft measures would require business owners and managers to submit to a background check.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Two of the current owners of Beacon Wellness, the medical marijuana store in Mancos, have expressed interest in opening a recreational marijuana site.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That fee may be set by a different law later in the summer, said Town Administrator Andrea Phillips.<\/p>\n
The new draft laws totaling 28 pages can be found on the town\u2019s website at Mancoscolorado.com.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n