REASONABLE RULES FOR POT GROWERS

We support a proposal - with some changes - that requires hearings
for certain medical marijuana businesses in Denver.

Denver City Council members have come up with a mostly reasonable way
to deal with medical marijuana grow facilities that hustled to stake
out locations just before city zoning laws changed.

The deal, which was approved by council members in committee Monday,
would allow the non-conforming businesses to stay in place but would
force them to go through hearings every two years to determine
whether they're causing problems.

The requirement for hearings every two years for these 50-some
businesses is burdensome. We think that after an initial hearing for
all, perhaps the better course would be to hold hearings on an
as-needed basis. Meaning, if a medical marijuana grow operation was
degrading the neighborhood with refuse, noise and crime, then
neighbors could petition for a hearing when its license was up for renewal.

An automatic hearing equates to a presumption that these grow
operations will allow problems to fester instead of addressing them
as they come up. The requirement also would formalize what would be a
significant amount of government work (50 hearings every two years)
and create an additional hoop for growers to jump through.

Growers already face significant oversight and rules from the state.
Why add more if there is no apparent need?

Otherwise, we like the compromise. It sets up reasonable criteria for
the city to decline to renew licenses of grow operations that don't
conform to the new zoning code.

If opponents can prove that grow operations are boosting crime rates
in the neighborhood, or are causing excessive noise, odor or traffic,
they could force out the grow operation.

We think most of these marijuana growing facilities will be under
such scrutiny from the state that it will be unlikely they'll cause problems.

Like them or not, they've got a right to exist and operate without
undue restrictions.

We were glad to see a proposal from Councilwoman Judy Montero go by
the wayside. It would have closed all grow facilities within 1,000
feet of a residential area or mixed use. If enacted, it would have
forced 167 of the city's 179 plant-growing facilities to move. That
would have been draconian.

Given that the state is requiring medical marijuana dispensaries to
grow at least 70 percent of the marijuana they sell, there needs to
be some place to grow it.

The city is on the right track in allowing these facilities a place
to exist. The compromise just needs a few tweaks.