La Plata County’s medical marijuana licensing board approved on Monday a permanent license for a medical marijuana grower in the Shenandoah subdivision.
Cooper Mason Ventures, also known as Silverpeak Apothecary, operates a 2,800-square-foot grow facility at 444 Conestoga Way. The company’s sole owner is Jordan Lewis of Aspen, according to a county report.
The facility is surrounded by large residential lots. The grower has been operating under a temporary license.
Cooper Mason Ventures passed inspections by the Durango Fire & Rescue Authority, San Juan Basin Health Department and the county Building Department before Monday’s permanent license approval.
The licensing board also cleared the first hurdle for Ron Guffey, a marijuana entrepreneur seeking to open a grow facility just north of Durango city limits along U.S. Highway 550.
Guffey, a Durango native, also owns Sante Alternative Wellness, a dispensary off Main Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets.
The licensing authority by a 3-0 vote found Guffey to be of good moral character, allowing his grow facility application to move ahead. The board decided two minor items on Guffey’s criminal background check – a failure to appear in Arizona in 1991 related to a speeding ticket, and a bad check written in Farmington in 1994 – should not stand in the way.
“None of us gave that much thought or mind,” said Rob Crane, chairman of the licensing board.
State law gives local authorities the discretion to deny applications based on moral character.
As part of Guffey’s application, Brian Carlson, a town of Silverton administrator, submitted a letter saying Guffey was “forthright and transparent, and also sensitive to the concerns of our community regarding the impact of commercial marijuana facilities.”
The licensing board also forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners a policy memorandum on the criteria to be used for future moral character decisions.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
