BASALT HARBORS NO 'REDNECK' ATTITUDE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Moratorium On Dispensaries Necessary Until Rules Clarified, Officials Insist

BASALT - Basalt officials insist their moratorium on new medical
marijuana dispensaries isn't intended to erect a bureaucratic
roadblock or send a philosophical statement in Colorado's ongoing
debate over pot.

The Basalt Town Council voted 4-0 last week to enact the moratorium
for up to two years. The town staff proposed the temporary ban to
provide time for the state to better define how it wants the budding
industry regulated.

That could happen as soon as the 2011 legislative session which
begins in January, said Basalt Town Manager Bill Kane, and if it
does, the town will end the moratorium and resume the review of new
applications for dispensaries.

Nobody wants to project an intolerant, redneck kind of attitude," Kane said.

But the current review process is proving costly and time-consuming,
he said. Basalt estimates it spent $10,000 on legal and
administrative costs in the review of Basalt Alternative Medicine
(BAM), which is the only dispensary currently licensed in Basalt. BAM
hopes to open this month in the midvalley.

The town has no way to recoup those expenses, unlike with the review
of land-use applications. When the town checks a developer's
application, various fees allow the government to recover some of
those expenses.

When asked to cite examples of how the state needs to better define
its regulations, Kane said numerous clarifications are needed on
rules for grow operations. In addition, more guidance is needed on
background checks for employees of dispensaries.

It became obvious to us that these rules aren't cooked yet," Kane said.

Basalt's Town Council generally takes a liberal approach to issues
so, in that sense, the moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries
might have been a surprise. Councilman Pete McBride said he supported
the moratorium because he agreed with staff that clarity is needed
from the state.

I'm not against the current situation with medical marijuana, but it
is very confusing, and small towns like Basalt that are trying to be
proactive feel like they're being guinea pigs for the state," McBride
said. "If the state makes it clear, I don't see a problem lifting the
moratorium."

Councilwoman Jacque Whitsitt departed the council meeting before the
vote on the moratorium because of illness, but she said she told Kane
she supported it. She told The Aspen Times a few days after the
meeting that the state government has done a good job over the years
defining what an applicant must do to earn a liquor license, and
defining how they can lose it. She wants similar clarity with medical
marijuana licenses.

For me personally, I don't care if it's completely legalized but I
want the regulations in place and the communities to get the revenues
from it," Whitsitt said.

Councilwoman Anne Freedman, like Whitsitt, an activist on many
liberal causes, said the uncertainty of federal laws as well as state
regulations convinced her the moratorium was necessary.

It's a very difficult topic because the law is so unsettled," Freedman said.

Municipalities and counties in Colorado have the ability to write
some of their own rules on dispensaries, including outright bans.
Basalt created strict zoning in 2009 that allows medical marijuana
dispensaries only in buildings that qualify as medical centers. That
limits it to somewhere between two and four sites in Basalt.

Kane said the council felt the zoning reflected the state intention -
that dispensaries were created to serve a medical need.

Do we want them downtown? No," he said. "Do we think they have a role
in the community? Yeah."

The purpose of the zoning and the moratorium was not to create a
potential monopoly for BAM, although that could be a result. As of
now, that isn't happening because BAM isn't open. In addition, the
town staff's review of the BAM application was often contentious. The
town initially rejected the application, then proposed a compromise
to allow BAM to transfer the license from a previous dispensary since
one owner remained the same.

McBride said he is concerned that the town's rules may have
unintentionally created a monopoly for the only dispensary in town
and given leverage to landlords in the few commercial spaces where
dispensaries can open.

In our best intentions, we created a small snafu but I think we can
solve it," McBride said.