MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITIES MUST STAY 400 FEET FROM NEIGHBORHOODS
UNDER DRAFT RULES

City Planning Commission to Consider Rules Sept. 16

Medical marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and facilities making
edible products would be restricted to commercial and industrial zones
in Colorado Springs and banned within 400 feet of schools, alcohol or
drug treatment facilities or residential child care homes under rules
drafted by city planners.

The proposed zoning and land-use regulations will go before the City
Planning Commission on Sept. 16. If approved, the proposal could come
before the City Council in October, said Steve Tuck, the planner
overseeing the drafting of the rules.

"It's no surprise that there's been some disagreements," Tuck said
Friday. "We had general consensus with the zoning classifications we
proposed. But there's a lot of disagreement on the 400-foot
restriction."

In drafting the rules, Tuck worked with representatives of the Council
of Neighbors & Organizations, or CONO, the Home Builders Association,
the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council and members of the drug
and alcohol rehab community.

"We suggested spacing rules similar to what the City Council adopted
for the pre-application process," Tuck said. He was referring to an
interim ordinance passed in May to allow potential medical marijuana
businesses to register and avoid a July 1 deadline to qualify for a
state business license under a new state law regulating the industry.

More than 450 pre-applications were filed but only 176 medical
marijuana dispensaries and grow operations are currently open in the
city. A handful of existing shops would not be grandfathered in by the
draft rules, Tuck said, because they are within the 400-foot buffer
zones. The same is true of a few in residential areas. All would have
to close.

Tuck said the rules his group formulated are designed to accommodate
everyone -- neighborhoods and existing medical marijuana businesses.
But it couldn't protect all interests.

"Our proposal would put a few (proposed dispensaries) out of business
that made a pre-application," Tuck said.

The 400-foot buffer zone is far shorter than the 1,000-foot buffer
proposed by CONO for schools, residential child care centers and
alcohol and drug treatment centers.

"We think 1,000 feet is an acceptable sort of distance or setback,"
said Dave Munger, president of CONO, an umbrella group for city
neighborhoods. Munger also is running for mayor in next April's
election. "We also proposed a 500-foot separation from the nearest
residence."

Munger said he expects CONO will raise its concerns to the Planning
Commission. But he stressed that his group was not trying to be
obstructionists to medical marijuana facilities.

"What we proposed doesn't cause a huge disadvantage to the industry or
to patients who need it," Munger said. "We're just trying to come up
with reasonable regulations that provide for effective distribution
with a minimum of negative impacts on neighborhoods and their residents."

While Tuck's group has drafted zoning and land-use rules, the City
Clerk's Office is drafting rules for how medical marijuana facilities
will be licensed, the fees, and other regulations. The draft of those
rules will go straight to City Council. They do not need Planning
Commission approval, Tuck said.