OURAY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DECIDE AGAINST PUTTING POT ON NOVEMBER BALLOT

Public Education Session Scheduled for Nov. 9

OURAY COUNTY -- The Ouray County Commissioners were unanimous on
Monday (Aug. 23) in their decision not to place medical marijuana on
November's ballot.

"The complexity of the issues can't really be communicated in a
yes-or-no ballot question," said Commissioner Keith Meinert.

He went on to enumerate the three different types of medical marijuana
businesses allowed under recent state legislation, each one
potentially requiring a different response from the county:
dispensaries (where medical marijuana is sold to patients),
manufacturing (the making of cannabis-infused foods and products), and
cultivation.

Dispensaries, he said, could only be licensed in the Colona commercial
zone. Nowhere else in the unincorporated county is zoned for
commercial use. (He reiterated that county consideration of these
issues has no bearing on what the municipalities of Ridgway and Ouray
decide to allow, or disallow.)

In the second instance, medial marijuana-infused manufacturing "is a
more industrial-type entity," Meinert said, "and could in theory take
place anywhere in the county under a special use permit."

Growing marijuana, Meinert continued, "is more of an agricultural
operation. And that could be a use-by-right under our land use code.
State law has given counties a higher level of control, and any grow
operation would still have to get a state license. But we are a
right-to-farm county." We don't yet fully understand the ramifications
of this, he said.

So, "to communicate this type of complexity, the pros and cons, the
business potential and the law enforcement questions, if there are any
- -- it seems to me we can't really do this in a ballot question."

Commissioners Heidi Albritton and Lynn Padgett agreed. Albritton said,
"We have consensus, I think. A yes-or-no answer is kind of a
disservice to the (complexity of the) issue itself."

Meinert went on to describe three options available to the
commissioners, other than trying to craft a ballot question. One, they
could decide to place a moratorium on any medical-marijuana related
applications to the county. Second, they could ban pot operations
outright, either permanently, or with a temporary ban for a specific
amount of time. And third, they could do nothing and let state law
take effect.

The county has until July 1, 2011, to decide. That's when the state's
one-year moratorium on issuing new licenses expires. At that time, if
the county has taken no action of its own, the state law, with its
regulation and licensing procedures, would apply here.

Albritton didn't want to do nothing. "We have individuals who are
applying for a permit (for cultivation). It would be disingenuous of
us not to address this sooner rather than later."

County Attorney Mary Deganhart confirmed that the county had received
two "letters actually, because we don't have application forms, or an
application process" expressing the writers' intent to pursue licenses
for grow-ops. The letters were received before July 1 of this year,
before the state moratorium went into effect. No new "applications"
can be accepted in the next 10 plus months.

This actually presents Ouray County with an opportunity, said Denver
attorney Christian Sederberg, who was in the audience along with his
client Chris Sanchez, one of the applicants for a grow-op. With just
two applicants max, "you have a couple of test cases here," Sederberg
said.

The commissioners felt they needed to do a lot more work, however,
before coming to any decisions. They agreed the local citizenry
deserved an extensive education/clarification effort and proposed a
public meeting to that end.

Padgett allowed that the commissioners had in fact held several
workshops on the issue and that these were sparsely attended. What
about, she suggested, a forum with expert speakers who could talk
about everything from the emerging state law to county powers and
responsibilities to concerns about enforcement.

"I worry about a forum," Attorney Deganhart said. "I worry that the
BOCC might appear to be advocating for one side or the other."

Someone suggested calling it a "town hall" meeting. "The problem with
'town hall,'" Meinert said, "is the perception that everybody comes to
the podium and pontificates."

Whatever we call it, he said, "I know the public will want to speak.
We need to solicit input on certain narrow specifics."

How about "education session?" said Padgett.

How about "Weeding out the issues: an education session," suggested
Clerk of the Board Linda Munson-Haley.

The date was set for Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.