Marijuana dispensaries will be operating in Grand Junction within the next year for the first time in 12 years.
Nearly 58% of eligible voters voted in support of ballot question 2A and 55% for ballot question 2B on an April 6, 2021 Referendum. These measures undid a previous ban on marijuana sales within city limits and implemented a future 8.25% special sales tax on marijuana sales.
The city held an application period following the referendum which ended on June 8, 2022. The applications went under a 90-day staff review before scheduled hearings, which began in September. There have been 24 applicants who made it to the hearing process: 14 advanced to the final lottery, two were denied, two have been rescheduled or continued to another date, four are under advisement and two appeals are pending.
The City Council is scheduled to hold three more hearings on Oct. 24 and hopes to complete the entire process by Nov. 17 before the randomized selection process.
The randomized selection process will award the ten sole applications through a lottery. It is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of December, barring any additional delays due to potential appeals to the district court from denied applicants. Once selected, cannabis businesses will have one year to become fully operational.
“[The applications] had to comply with city code regarding signs, parking, zoning and other things like that. We did as a city decide on some additional buffers from schools and mental health treatment facilities. We do have in our ordinance specific requirements for cannabis licensing,” Deputy City Clerk Janet Harrell said.
Ordinance number 5070, along with other requirements, states that no regulated cannabis stores shall permit within 1,000 feet of any private or public elementary, middle, or high schools; also within 1,000 feet of Colorado Mesa University (CMU) or Western Colorado Community College. Additionally, no cannabis store is allowed within a building that includes residential units or a unit on the ground floor of Main Street.
People over the age of 21 will be able to buy cannabis from retail dispensaries and those with a medical cannabis card will also soon have access to local businesses.
“We had some applicants that put in for co-located facilities, medical and retail. We did say [within the ordinance] that we will not have medical-only […] There were questions as to how feasible some of those business models were with medical versus retail,” Harrell said.
The city is expecting around $3 million of tax revenue from cannabis sales. The tax revenue will be earmarked towards the cost of administration of cannabis licensing such as the enforcement of city regulations as well as the Grand Junction Parks and Recreation Department. The funds will improve outdoor walking and hiking trails along with general open spaces and city parks.
“I think the council has done a great job with the process. The application time was open for 30 days and we got 47 applications during that time. There’s a lot of interest and I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for the city,” City Clerk Amy Philips said.
