NIWOT BUSINESSES ASK BOULDER COUNTY FOR POT DISPENSARY BAN

County, Unlike Many Cities, Doesn't Have Options for Moratorium

Property owners along Second Avenue in Old Town Niwot are asking the
Boulder County commissioners to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in
the area's designated rural community district.

Owners of 22 of the 28 commercial lots in that zone, which runs from
Niwot Road to Murray Street, signed a petition asking the
commissioners to amend the community district's codes to prohibit
dispensaries and marijuana growing operations. The petition also asks
the county to instate a moratorium on pot dispensaries until the
amendment is passed.

"A number of landlords in the town of Niwot have been approached by
folks who are looking into the possibility of doing a marijuana
dispensary," said Tim Wise, owner of Wise Buys Antiques and the
person who organized the petition.

Wise said that he and other business owners feel a marijuana
dispensary would be "out of character" among the historic buildings
along Second Avenue, an area that local businesses have worked hard
to make into a welcoming place for tourists to browse.

"It's not necessarily that we're against marijuana in general," Wise
said. "But we don't feel like this is an appropriate venue."

The petition from Wise and his colleagues has been forwarded to the
Boulder County Land Use Department, which is looking into whether
countywide rules should be drafted to specifically address marijuana
dispensaries, said Dale Case, department director.

The earliest that recommendations for any such rules would reach the
county's planning commission is likely May, Case said. And any new
policies would have to gain final approval of the county
commissioners before going into effect.

In the meantime, the Land Use Department is receiving a "pretty
constant flow of inquiries" from people who are interested in
starting up medical marijuana businesses. And the county does not
have the authority to enact a moratorium to stop them, Case said.

Many cities within Boulder County -- including Lafayette, Longmont
and Louisville -- all have dispensary moratoriums in place. But
unlike cities, counties in Colorado only have powers that are granted
to them specifically by the state.

"We're a county government, so we don't have a lot of options for a
moratorium," Case said.