WILL IT BE GROWN IN LA PLATA COUNTY?

Commissioners to Review Proposed Medical Pot Regulations Tuesday

While state officials continue working to create historic regulations
for the medical marijuana industry and its patients, county officials
soon could adopt their own interim regulatory measures.

La Plata County commissioners will discuss a set of proposed temporary
medical marijuana regulations during a 10 a.m. meeting Tuesday at the
county courthouse.

The long-awaited regulations have been months in the
making.

For Durango's eight dispensaries, the wait has meant finding creative
ways to satisfy a state requirement that they grow at least 70 percent
of their product.

With the City Council voting to ban grow operations in July and the
county's regulations in limbo, Durango Healing Center owner Mark
Busnardo said dispensaries have struggled to legally obtain their
marijuana. He knows one local dispensary that has had to go to Delta
County to buy its marijuana.

"(Growing in La Plata County) makes the most sense," Busnardo said.
"The bottom line is these dispensaries are going to be around no
matter what. If they aren't getting their marijuana from La Plata
County, it's coming from somewhere else."

The county's draft rules, which were released last month before a
10-day public comment period, would allow limited operation of medical
marijuana retail centers, growing operations and the production of
marijuana-infused products within the county after an extensive
application and review process.

Among those taking advantage of the comment period is attorney Stuart
Prall, who represents several dispensary owners and county residents
interested in setting up marijuana businesses.

"Regulations give the industry legitimacy, and that gives the industry
predictability," Prall said. "I think (the regulations) are a good
start, but I do think they need to be tweaked."

He has asked county commissioners for several changes.

The proposed regulations require all medical marijuana businesses to
obtain a temporary land-use permit, except primary-caregiver grow
operations of less than 200 square feet and patients growing solely
for personal use.

Medical marijuana facilities, under the proposal, couldn't operate
within 1,000 feet of any school, college campus, licensed child care
center, public park or playground, rehabilitation center or religious
institution.

The code also requires applicants to notify property owners within 500
feet of their proposed medical marijuana business before applying to
the county, allowing for a 20-day comment period for neighbors and an
appeal process for businesses denied permits.

The rules further include requirements for signage, parking, odors and
business operating hours. And medical marijuana or related products
cannot to be visible from the exterior of medical marijuana businesses
under the proposal.

Medical marijuana businesses also won't be allowed to establish within
three miles of Bayfield or Ignacio, where town officials have banned
the businesses.

It's a rule that Prall said seems "arbitrary."

"Why is it three miles? Why not five miles, or one?" he
asked.

Prall said he would like to see medical marijuana cultivation
operations and companies that manufacture medical marijuana-infused
products exempted from the county's proposed hours-of-operation
requirement. The owners of those businesses often work odd hours and
see little or no public foot traffic, he said.

And while county officials said they have aimed to keep the proposed
temporary rules consistent and the permitting process expedited for
all medical marijuana businesses, Prall said the proposed zoning
requirements would set different guidelines for indoor and outdoor
grow operations. Smart growers use both cultivation practices as
weather dictates, he said.

Prall also said he doesn't have a problem with retail centers being
required to provide notice to neighbors before they establish, but
growers and manufacturers need more privacy.

He would like the county to assign a specific director to oversee all
medical marijuana businesses.

Commissioners will consider Prall's suggestions and others they have
received at the meeting Tuesday. County manager Shawn Nau said changes
to the proposed regulatory measures are possible.

If approved, the proposed county code would expire July 1, when state
regulations are expected to take effect. Commissioners then hope to
adopt a licensing process and permanent land use code provisions that
will work in tandem with the state rules.

Until then, Nau told commissioners recently, "What we're really trying
to do is kind of tread water."