Is it a "good thing" for Colorado municipalities to be able to limit number of pot shops?
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Just learned that Palisade, CO has limited the number of rec dispensaries to 2 ... which is very interesting in that it looks like it'll be the closest place for people in Grand Junction.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/palisade-8232picks-2-8232for-rec...
Palisade picks 2 for rec pot shop
By Amy Hamilton
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Potential marijuana business owners filed into a training room at Palisade’s Civic Center on Wednesday. They found seats at long plastic tables and exchanged nervous conversation.
In a just a few minutes they would know whether they were on their way to opening a retail marijuana store in Palisade.
The afternoon bingo-style drawing was held to determine which of the prospective businesses would receive the go-ahead to move forward through the state’s regulatory process.
As the bingo numbers rolled, two businesses, H&S LLC and THC 2, were chosen as first picks.
H&S lists its managing member as Heather Aspy and another associated member, Sondra Rivera, according to Palisade’s records. THC 2 Inc. lists managing member Daniel Sprague and associated member Brian Grabow.
Fourteen applicants put their names in the lottery for the opportunity to open one of two available retail marijuana stores in Palisade. Palisade voters in November 2016 allowed retail marijuana stores to locate in town. Palisade trustees decided to allow a total of three stores in town, with current medical marijuana provider Colorado Alternative Health Care receiving one of the three slots. Their retail marijuana store, The Colorado Weedery, is already open.
Marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and testing facilities also have been approved to locate in Palisade, but those businesses do not need to enter into a lottery system to gain approval to operate.
Renee Grossman, owner of High Q recreational marijuana dispensary in Silt, has been eyeing Palisade’s process for months. Grossman’s application was chosen as a runner-up, if THC 2 does not make it through the legal hoops required by the state and Palisade.
“At this point I’m already out $15,000 in Palisade,” she said, referring to investments made to get a jump on setting up shop. “I’ve prepared myself for this outcome.”
Grossman said her company also plans to open a recreational marijuana store in Carbondale.
First priority picks now must seek approval from the state to open businesses. After that, they can apply for licenses with Palisade. Businesses are subject to a $5,000 fee and must comply with requirements of a conditional use permit for operations. Those specific decisions will be made in upcoming public hearings, Palisade Town Administrator Rich Sales said Wednesday.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Patrick H.
Lots of cities in CO do not
Lots of cities in CO do not allow pot to be sold. It is up to each city to decide. Though some are realizing they are losing tax dollars and some have opened up the market. Boulder allows it. Longmont did no for some time and now allow it and louisville only lets in a certain amount of Disp. Lyons they voted on it and allowed it.
What is weird is you can not buy clones in Boulder city?
So you have to drive to buy clones...not very boulderish to have to drive somewhere to get something that should be available in boulder.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
Why shouldn't local
Why shouldn't local municipalities have such control?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
They probably have a cap on
They probably have a cap on liquor stores too.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skifurthur
^
^
On liquor stores, fast food joints, strip clubs, etc.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Why shouldn't local
Why shouldn't local municipalities have such control?<<<
Not suggesting they shouldn't have any regulatory control, but doesn't the Palisade situation seem to put the town in a position of being "monopoly maker" (of the marketplace)? ... given how the GJ metro area of 70k people will in all likelihood fuel an enormous demand that could otherwise easily support 6-12 shops. At the same time, the town allows the two shops to essentially have a bottomless supply line of product..
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>but doesn't the Palisade
>but doesn't the Palisade situation seem to put the town in a position of being "monopoly maker" (of the marketplace)?
Like Tim mentioned, towns routinely limit the number of liquor licenses available, this situation is no different. The current government does not want 6-12 pot shops within the city limits, two is what they will abide. Convenience does not equal monopoly. One is free to drive to another town to purchase marijuana.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
One is free to drive to
One is free to drive to another town to purchase marijuana<<<
Well of course, but it's another 30-60 minute drive to the next closest pot shop ... the two in Palisade will have to setup those mazes with velvet ropes.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>>Well of course, but it's
>>Well of course, but it's another 30-60 minute drive to the next closest pot shop
Convenience does not equal monopoly.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: good at drinking water
A county ban the sale of
A county banning the sale of legal things?
I suppose there are still dry counties out there.
Is it legal to ban the sale of guns?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>I suppose there are still
>I suppose there are still dry counties out there
There are dry towns along the Jersey shore
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Well, eventually it
Well, eventually it effectively does. If I had to cross the US to buy a product from a second vendor, that's a monopoly.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: good at drinking water
Apparently you can't ban gun
Apparently you can't ban gun sales.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/07/chicago-gun-sale-ban-unconstitutional-judge-rules.html
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Convenience does not equal
Convenience does not equal monopoly<<<<
Sure, in absolute terms re: definition; however, in reality, are there not different shades of marketplace competition (or lack thereof)?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Is it legal to ban the sale
Is it legal to ban the sale of guns?<<<
There's no shortage of guns to be purchased in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
Surf, a 30-60 minute drive is
Surf, a 30-60 minute drive is not across the US. Not a monopoly, or even a duopoly.
Steve, access to firearms is protected by the second amendment. Access to marijuana and alcohol is not guaranteed by the Constitution.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>are there not different
>are there not different shades of marketplace competition (or lack thereof)?
Sure, face, but the town is within its rights.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
>> Apparently you can't ban
>> Apparently you can't ban gun sales.
Why would that surprise you? It's a fundamental right. It's like being surprised that a municipality can't ban the free exercise of religion or free speech.
(And if we are quoting the law, Gonzales v Raich says all pot sales are illegal. The Justice Dept just decided that check and balances be damned, they were overriding the legislature and the judicial branch.)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: good at drinking water
It wasn't a fundamental right
It wasn't a "fundamental right" until 2008.
A lot of people think that politics had a lot to do with that decision.
But let's accept that every insane person has a fundamental right to a gun.
OK.
What about abortion?
Can counties block access to abortion by making it really really hard to get?
Apparently so.
https://thinkprogress.org/87-percent-of-u-s-counties-lack-abortion-provi...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
I agree about abortion Steve.
>> But let's accept that every insane person has a fundamental right to a gun.
This is categorically not true. Mental illness is a reason to refuse a gun sale. It's a crime to lie about this condition on the background check application.
I agree about abortion Steve. It seems like too many lawmakers have no problem passing a law they know is unconstitutional despite their oaths.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: New & Improved
There's a dispensary in
There's a dispensary in DeBeque about 20 minutes away.
>> Sure, in absolute terms re: definition; however, in reality, are there not different shades of marketplace competition (or lack thereof)? <<
People who choose to live in rural areas know there are trade-offs to basic conveniences of goods and services.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Patrick H.
Layette co only has two.
Layette co only has two.
Longmont CO limits the number to around 5 I believe...though this years they thought about letting more stores open up.
In louisville CO only has about 3-4 and they limit what parts of town they can be in and how many shops can open up.
Lyons has about 3-4 and limits how many can be there.
Boulder has probably over 15 maybe 20+ do not think we limit though they have to be 500 feet from schools. So all the ones who opened on the hill had to close due to being within 500 feet of CU.
All the above towns are about 15-25 minutes to boulder.
Denver has 100's which is about 35 minutes from most towns above.
Palisade, CO is 4 hours from denver.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
You would think market forces
You would think market forces would whittle down the number of pot shops in some towns. There are 200+ shops in Portland, which is greater than the number of Starbucks. I don't see how they all can stay in business for the long term, especially considering that people can now grow their own at home.
Its funny going to the Oregon coast where every little hamlet and town and has multiple shops lining Hwy 101. Must be the tourists because there is no way the locals would be buying that much weed to keep all the shops open.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Although we are self
Although we are self-sufficient, we do stop in to one of those little shops from time to time - usually disappointed in the weed, but of note is the large number of pot tourists from out of state or from foreign countries.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
There's a dispensary in
There's a dispensary in DeBeque about 20 minutes away.<<<
that's 25 minutes from Palisade, 35 minutes from GJ proper
... which is a big difference for a GJ resident to make a 20 minute round trip vs. 1:10 rt to De Beque
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Must be the tourists because
Must be the tourists because there is no way the locals would be buying that much weed to keep all the shops open<<<
That's kind of the thing with Palisade too ... I suppose people from GJ wouldn't be considered "tourists" per se, but Palisade does get tourists doing the whole wine tour thing. Which is interesting in so far as them having set their pot shop limits based strictly upon the resident population.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/palisade-opens-doors-to-3-pot-st...
Palisade’s leaders are tasked with deciding how to proceed on regulating the presence of recreational marijuana businesses after voters in November opened the door for the businesses to operate in the town.
Technically, the number of retail stores will be tied to the number of Palisade residents, which currently is estimated at 2,600. One retail store each will be allowed per 1,000 residents, not counting Colorado Alternative Health Care.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>That's kind of the thing
>That's kind of the thing with Palisade too ... I suppose people from GJ wouldn't be considered "tourists" per se, but Palisade does get tourists doing the whole wine tour thing. Which is interesting in so far as them having set their pot shop limits based strictly upon the resident population<
Sounds like Palisade is not interested in pot tourism
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>That's kind of the thing
.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ________
What does this have to do
What does this have to do with the airlines
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
>What does this have to do
>What does this have to do with the airlines?
Tourism?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ________
Must be nice to smoke weed
Must be nice to smoke weed all day and bitch about nonsense
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: New & Improved
>> ... which is a big
>> ... which is a big difference for a GJ resident to make a 20 minute round trip vs. 1:10 rt to De Beque <<
Right.
I have lived in both rural and urban Colorado. It's common for people living in rural Colorado to go to the city to do a "Costco run", or whatever. This seems to be the case with weed in GJ etc.
If having pot within walking distance is that important to you, then move near a pot store?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 2 Room Shack
don't they have uber weed
don't they have uber weed there?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Must be nice to smoke weed
Must be nice to smoke weed all day and bitch about nonsense <<<
And you were doing so well! I noticed re: new leaf being turned, even if it was just a more "tempered version" of heybro.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _________
Super Bud It's Everywhere ! I
Super Bud It's Everywhere ! I Hate Store Pot !! stupid scales and containers..........
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
If having pot within walking
If having pot within walking distance is that important to you, then move near a pot store?<<<
I've long made peace with said trade-off's, so it's not really about me ... the original question is whether it's a good thing. And in particular to my point, whether municipal agents are being fair with respect to allowing free market forces to operate in an unfettered manner (while also keeping "life in Palisade" relatively copacetic)?
It's one thing for rural towns like GJ, Delta, Montrose, Norwood, etc. to ban retail altogether, but quite another to inject moral bias into the regulatory framework ... that may ultimately be "worse" in so far as playing favorites in a contrived market.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _________
i have my 1/4 Lb fresh
i have my 1/4 Lb fresh harvest so i'm happy at the moment
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ________
>And you were doing so well!
>And you were doing so well!
lol
Thanks Eric