On the heels of an extended moratorium on marijuana business licenses, the town continues to work through sticky points in regulations that govern the business.
At its June 10 meeting, the Mancos Town Board reviewed proposed changes to town code pertaining to marijuana business licenses, based on feedback from board members and town staff gathered from workshop sessions, said Town Administrator Andrea Phillips.
Proposed updates include raising the fees for new medical marijuana permits and banning grow operations and other operations that would house or use explosive substances in the cultivation process.
As the regulations state now, it is $3,000 for the first license and an additional $1,000 if you want an additional license for a grow operation, which is much less than what the state charges, Phillips said.
Several procedural changes were also proposed to realign the medical and retail application processes.
One big sticking point remains about the type of the licenses offered in town. The board is on the fence about allowing marijuana extraction and infusion producers in town.
It's been proposed to eliminate grow facilities and products manufacturers as the town wouldn't see much of a tax benefit and space is limited for such facilities. If approved, however, the tighter rules would put a major wrench in the plans for a new small business that hopes to create wholesale marijuana-infused products via an all-natural extraction process.
Trustees have also expressed concerns about the potentially odorous and explosive chemicals used in the extraction process, but company representatives contend that they will be extracting without high-grade chemicals and plan to do it on a much smaller scale in almost a kitchen environment.
Regardless, Mayor Rachel Simbeck and Mayor-pro tem Todd Kearns expressed reservations about tweaking policy for one business.
"We're setting the policy for all of Mancos, not just one business. There were potential repercussions that we have not planned for," said Simbeck.
The moratorium on new marijuana business licenses has been extended to Dec. 31, 2015, to give the board time to wade through changes and ensure the laws on the books are adequate for the town.
