Now that voters have spoken, the Pueblo City Council doesn’t want to waste time in getting recreational marijuana stores licensed in the city.
At a work session, councilors gave the green light to city planners to bring forward a zoning and licensing ordinance for final consideration on Dec. 27. As discussed in the Monday work session, it would authorize up to eight stores – four on the north side of the Arkansas River and four on the south.
“But that’s just a number council can change at any time,” District 1 Councilman Bob Schilling reminded his colleagues.
The Pueblo’s first retail stores could open as early as next April or May, if all goes according to the planners’ timetable.
The last time Pueblo councilors discussed these regulations was April 2015, before Councilman Chris Nicoll and former Councilwoman Eva Montoya argued to let city voters decide whether to have retail pot stores in the city.
That question was answered on Nov. 8 with a slight majority of city voters saying yes to stores and a much stronger majority – 60 percent – confirming they didn’t want to repeal any recreational marijuana businesses in the city.
Pueblo councilors did make one change Monday night, agreeing to require that all retail pot store license applicants conduct a neighborhood petition drive to get support from neighbors. Liquor license applicants have to do the same.
Over the objections of Councilor Lori Winner, council declined to give Pueblo medical marijuana license owners any priority in getting retail store licenses.
“They’ve been patient and have invested millions in our community,” she said.
Other councilors said they wanted a level playing field among the retail store applicants and the city’s proposed licensing rules would give credit to any applicant that has operated a marijuana business “in good standing” anywhere in Colorado.
Given the buffer zones in the proposed city zoning regulations, there aren’t many areas where retail stores – or medical marijuana centers – are allowed in the city. Rules such as no closer than 1,000 feet to school and no closer than 300 feet to a residence create limits.
Council President Steve Nawrocki wondered if those limits could be adjusted because charter schools and for-profit schools are springing up in traditional business areas of the city.
City Attorney Dan Kogovsek cautioned against any changes in buffer zones, noting that President-elect Donald Trump is looking at making Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the new federal attorney general.
“And Mr. Sessions is no fan of marijuana,” Kogovsek said. “We need to be careful about buffer zones.”
Kogovsek said President Barack Obama’s administration has been willing to give states like Colorado leeway on marijuana licensing, but federal officials have insisted on strong measures to keep stores away from schools and homes.
