POT QUESTION COULD MAKE WINDSOR BALLOT

The Windsor Town Board will consider an ordinance to ban medical
marijuana dispensaries at 7 tonight in the Town Board chambers on the
third floor of Windsor Town Hall, 301 Walnut St. If the ordinance
fails, the board will then pass a resolution to place the issue before
the voters on the November ballot.

For the second time in seven months, it appears Windsor residents will
get a chance to weigh in on how they want their town to proceed with
medical marijuana dispensaries.

Twenty-eight Windsor residents turned in petitions to the Windsor town
clerk's office last week with 915 signatures to force a ballot
question in November that asks residents to ban medical marijuana
dispensaries and grow houses within town limits.

The petition was co-sponsored by former Town Board members Nancy Weber
and Michael Kelly.

"There was interest in the community to do this because House Bill
1284 allows municipalities to ban them," Weber said.

The group needed to gather 611 valid signatures of registered voters
to get the issue on the ballot. Town Clerk Patti Garcia has 30 days to
verify the signatures and until Sept. 3 to get everything to Larimer
and Weld counties in time for the Nov. 2 election.

The town board, however, has the option to create an ordinance in
alignment with the petition and avoid taking it to a vote. The board
will vote on the ordinance Monday at its regular meeting. If the
ordinance passes on first reading it will go to a second reading and a
public hearing. The ordinance must have at least five yes votes to
pass second reading.

Tina Valenti, co-owner of In Harmony Wellness near the Interstate 25
and Colo. 392 intersection, said she was disappointed.

"People don't understand that by legitimizing this, actually, very
benign substance it helps reduce crime. The stigma around it is much
more toxic than the plant could ever be," she said. "The more they try
to ban and squeeze it out, the more it will pop up where you don't
want it to be."

Valenti said she will actively campaign against the proposal that
could put her out of business.

"It's a mess out there," she said. "I would have to find land in a
municipality where regulations are set and would recognize a change of
address. It sounds simple but it's not. It's extremely full of obstacles."

Valenti would lose state licensing fees of $7,500 for her dispensary,
$1,250 for a grow house, $1,250 for edibles and a $2,500 licensing fee
to the town of Windsor.

Valenti, whose business paid nearly $35,000 in Windsor sales taxes in
its first year in business, said she doesn't know how to prove to
residents that In Harmony is a good neighbor.

"We've paid our taxes, and we've shown the community how you can
operate without incident," she said. "I think it's the loudest voices
that don't want a dispensary. I think if the majority of the community
kept an open mind about it, the majority won't want to ban it."

Weber said this is the opportunity for Windsor residents to vote on
the question that should have been asked in April. Weber said the
question asked in April -- whether to limit the town to two
dispensaries -- misled voters; a no vote construed they didn't care
how many there were while a yes construed they were OK with two. There
was no option to vote on a complete ban, Weber said.

"I guess we'll find out in November," Weber said. "It's nothing
personal against the owners. It's not a consumption issue but a
distribution issue."