COUNTY OKS HALT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Craig -- The Moffat County Com -mission did not need extra time to
consider a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in
the unincorporated parts of the county.

The commission approved, 3-0, a resolution at its meeting Tuesday
that bans such businesses for six months or until the Colorado
Legislature creates a framework for dispensaries to operate under,
whichever comes first.

"I would like to, if we can, put a number on this and adopt it
today," Commissioner Tom Mathers said, as he looked down at a
proposed resolution drafted by County Attorney Kathleen Taylor. "I
don't think we need to sit around for another week or two and talk
about this."

The commission felt confident that no dispensaries exist on county
land because all county land is zoned agricultural.

To operate a dispensary in the county, a person would have to apply
for a conditional use permit to run a commercial business in an
agricultural zoning or apply for a zoning change.

No one has taken either of those steps for a medical marijuana
dispensary, officials said.

The county's decision will not affect a municipal ordinance about
medical marijuana dispensaries passed last month by the Craig City
Council because Craig is a home rule city.

The city's ordinance restricts dispensary operations by limiting them
to certain commercial and industrial zones, preventing them from
being within 100 feet of a residence or 500 feet of a school and
requiring a $1,500 application fee to pay for criminal background
checks of anyone looking to open a medical marijuana dispensary.

Councilor Byron Willems asked the rest of the council to consider an
ordinance banning all marijuana dispensaries inside Craig city
limits, but his request was never voted on.

Other councilors cited the possibility of being sued -- because
medical marijuana and the current system is legal according to state
law -- as a reason why they favored local regulations to an out-right
ban.

Willems was the only council member to vote against the city's
marijuana ordinance.

Before the council passed its regulations, the city also instituted
two 60-day moratoriums on dispensaries, much the same as the county
passed Tuesday. The moratoriums were the longest allowed by the city
charter.

The county has greater latitude in the length of its moratorium
because it is governed under different state statutes.

Commissioner Tom Gray said the county's decision is not an attempt to
indefinitely suspend medical marijuana dispensaries from operating in
the county.

"We can just use a moratorium forever just as a way to not deal with
it," he said. "Six months is reasonable because we have information
that the Legislature may act on this."

The county's resolution expressly permits medical marijuana
cultivation for personal use. It only applies to commercial sales.
The county attorney said the commission's decision mirrors other
counties in the state, which have installed moratoriums from two to
six months. The six-month timeframe allows the moratorium to last
through the next legislative session, Taylor said.