CITY MAY DELAY DECISION ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

Medical marijuana businesses that don't meet a Fort Collins licensing
requirement may continue operating as officials sort out how the
city's rules for the facilities match up with state
regulations.

Fort Collins City Council members were scheduled to consider Tuesday
how they might "grandfather in" existing marijuana businesses, or
MMB's, that fall short of location requirements for receiving
operating licenses.

But uncertainty about the rules the state will follow in issuing its
licenses for marijuana businesses has city officials recommending the
council delay its grandfathering decision.

The proposed postponement could last several months, said Capt. Jerry
Schiager of Fort Collins police.

"We're just not able to put this together quick enough," he said. "I
think it's a really good decision by the city manager and the council
to put it off to see what the state comes up with."

State legislation passed this year requires medical marijuana
businesses to get operating licenses from the state as well as local
jurisdictions. The state is still going through the rule-making
process for how it will regulate marijuana businesses.

The legislation set a July 1 deadline for businesses to apply for a
local license. Businesses that missed the deadline will have to wait
until July 2011 to apply.

The deadline to apply for a state license is Aug. 1.

Schiager said the city needs to understand how the dual-licensing
scheme would work and to what extent the city's marijuana regulations
would need to be rewritten.

"If we want to vary from what the state is requiring, we can," he
said. "We just need to decide what makes sense for our local interests
and in which areas we should mirror what the state does."

The city's licensing requirements include background checks on
business owners and managers. Marijuana businesses also would be
limited to specific commercial and industrial zoning districts.

A marijuana business must be at least 1,000 feet from a primary or
secondary school as well as another MMB, according to city
regulations.

A business also could not be within 500 feet of a university,
child-care center, place of worship, recreation area, rehabilitation
center and residential zoning boundary.

Businesses that meet all of the city's requirements other than the
distancing rules would be issued a provisional operating license until
the grandfathering issue is decided.

So far, no provisional or full medical marijuana business licenses
have been issued, city officials say. Background checks on some
applicants are just starting to come back from the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation.

Existing businesses may operate while they await licensing
decisions.

The city has received 36 applications for MMB licenses. Of those, 28
are for dispensaries and the rest are for other types of services,
such as cultivation and delivery, Schiager said.

Only two of the businesses appear to meet the distancing requirements,
he said.

Joey Simental, co-owner of Abundant Healing, 351 Linden St., said it
makes sense for the city to make sure its regulations don't end up
overruled by state-mandated requirements.

"I think it's one of the smartest things they've done," he said. "I
think they need to be very careful about what they do because there
are companies at stake."

Simental said he believes his business meets all of the city's
licensing requirements. The company is working on its application to
the state for a license.