Pubdate: Wed, 12 Sep 2012
Source: Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO)
Copyright: 2012 Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/ys97xJAX
Website: http://www.postindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/821
Author: John Stroud

SILT-AREA MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROWING FACILITY OK'D

Plans to Expand to Greenhouse May Be in Limbo

A medical marijuana growing operation on Silt Mesa has been cleared 
by the Garfield County commissioners to proceed in obtaining its 
state licensing.

But Green Natural Solutions Inc. of Glenwood Springs, the operators 
of the leased growing facility at 4501 Silt Mesa Road, may need to 
reapply for verification that a currently unused greenhouse at the 
site also existed before a June 2010 county moratorium on medical 
marijuana facilities.

Two growing operations in Garfield County are used to supply Green 
Natural's downtown Glenwood Springs dispensary.

One, located in Spring Valley, was verified by the Garfield Board of 
County Commissioners (BOCC) last month as having been in existence 
before the two-year moratorium was put in place.

The moratorium was lifted in July of this year, after the county 
adopted new regulations for medical marijuana growing operations in 
unincorporated parts of the county. The rules now limit facilities to 
industrial zone districts, unless they existed in other areas prior 
to the moratorium.

Commissioners wanted more proof that Green Natural's Silt Mesa 
facility also was in existence before that time. That evidence was 
provided at the regular BOCC meeting in Carbondale on Monday, 
warranting the commissioners' OK.

But the growers, including Green Naturals co-owner Shalynn Hofert and 
the owner of the Silt Mesa location, Justin Rambo, also said they 
eventually plan to utilize the greenhouse.

The problem is, it wasn't listed in the original verification 
application as part of the operation.

The new zoning rules also prohibit the expansion of pre-existing 
facilities in zones where they are no longer allowed. That includes 
the rural/residential zoning on Silt Mesa where the Green Naturals 
growing operation is located.

Any expansion, however, would mean the facility would be out of 
compliance, acting county attorney Carey Gagnon advised the commissioners.

"They would have to come back with a new land-use application," she 
said. But that would then raise the question of whether it's still a 
pre-existing, nonconforming use, she also said.

The other option is for Green Naturals to reapply for verification 
that the facility existed before the moratorium, but this time with 
the inclusion of the greenhouse.

"So my decision is to reapply, or throw away the six figures we've 
put into this operation?" Rambo asked of the commissioners.

Rambo said the county planning department never asked for a formal 
site plan as part of the original application. Otherwise, the 
greenhouse would have been included, he said.

Rambo also said when the growing operation was first started, he was 
advised by county officials that it was an agricultural business. So, 
the rural zone district seemed appropriate at the time.

"I have a problem with this whole process," he said.

County verification of pre-existing medical marijuana facilities is 
now required when businesses apply to state regulators for permits. 
New operations come under the county's new zoning regulations.

In addition to being limited to industrial zones, growing facilities 
can be no closer than 1,000 feet from schools, day care centers, 
parks, churches and public buildings. They are also restricted to 
supplying only dispensaries located within Garfield County.

In November 2010, Garfield County voters were asked to decide three 
ballot questions related to medical marijuana, which was legalized by 
Colorado voters in 2001.

Local voters decided to prohibit dispensaries and the manufacture of 
marijuana-infused products in unincorporated areas of the county. But 
voters agreed by a small margin to allow growing operations.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom