ROUTT COUNTY APPROVES MARIJUANA MORATORIUM

Commissioners' Vote Was Unanimous

Steamboat Springs -- No members of the public showed up to speak
Tuesday afternoon as the Routt County Board of Commissioners
unanimously approved a moratorium on medical marijuana facilities in
rural parts of the county.

The moratorium means the county won't accept any more applications for
permits or licenses to open a business "that cultivates, processes or
dispenses medical marijuana."

Commissioners waited an extra five minutes to start the meeting to
allow any potential speakers to get through traffic.

The moratorium will remain in place at least until the end of the year
to allow commissioners time to consider their options for how to
regulate, or not regulate, medical marijuana businesses in rural parts
of the county.

The moratorium came a day after Gov. Bill Ritter approved a law that
allows local governments to regulate and ban medical marijuana
dispensaries. The moratorium does not use the authority of that law,
relying instead on the land use code of the county.

The county until now has not differentiated between businesses when
looking at permit applications -- a medical marijuana dispensary was
treated the same as a general store -- but Routt County Planning
Department Director Chad Phillips said the staff would like to have
more direction. The commissioners will have time to decide that
direction during the moratorium period.

"I am assuming that if we pass this regulation today, then staff will
work to review this state legislation and create some kind of list for
us of the options we will have," Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said.

Marijuana growing in areas where agriculture is allowed is not banned
by the moratorium because those growers do not need any land-use
permits. Routt County Attorney John Merrill stressed that the county
land-use codes do not supersede federal law, and those growers could
run into problems if they operate illegally.

Milner dispensary allowed The law will not affect the land-use permit
for Aloha's, the only dispensary to submit an application to the county.

The Routt Coun--ty Planning Com--mission in May approved the land-use
application by Chris Ward to open the business in Mil-ner, contingent
on a list of requirements.

Ward said Tues---day that he missed the meeting with commissioners
be-cause of heavy traffic.

Ward said he is working to open his business in the county because the
rules in Steamboat Springs pushed him out of town, and he doesn't like
the idea of the county using the same tactic.

"It's just weird that nobody else can open up in the county anywhere
else," he said. "You know what I mean? There's a lot of county here."

Ward has been working on the readying building, in a commercially
zoned area of county control along U.S. Highway 40 in Milner, since
January.

He said the moratorium could help his business because he will have a
monopoly in the western part of the county, but he would like to see
more opportunities for business owners.

The Hayden Town Council denied a request to allow a dispensary in
May.

Aloha's will go up for a final inspection in about a week and a half,
he said, and he hopes to open the dispensary a few days after that.

"I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you know what I mean?"
he said.