Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 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 Colson

TRUSTEES DENY MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS PERMIT

Applicant threatens to sue, calls decision 'a setup'

CARBONDALE, Colorado - Following a heated debate, the town trustees on
Tuesday voted 4-3 to deny an application by CMED owner Michael Weisser
to operate his medical marijuana center here.

CMED has been in operation for more than two years at 615 Buggy
Circle, but the business is caught in a complex regulatory timeline.

Weisser, clearly upset by the board's action, asked whether the town
was shutting his operation down and was told that town officials would
let him know.

"You'd better do it quick, because I'm going to move immediately for
an injunction against the board," Weisser replied.

Mayor Stacey Bernot and Trustees Elizabeth Murphy, Pam Zentmyer and
John Foulkrod voted to deny the application, while Trustees Allyn
Harvey, John Hoffmann and Frosty Merriott voted to approve it.

The vote came after a lengthy debate about whether Weisser had filed a
completed application to operate a medical marijuana center, whether
the application was eligible to be grandfathered under town codes, and
other issues.

At an earlier hearing on Sept. 11, the trustees directed Weisser to
file a revised application to operate the center, obtain a certificate
of occupancy concerning remodeling he carried out at the town's
direction, and other tasks.

Town clerk Cathy Derby and town attorney Matt Hamilton, according to a
memo to the trustees, concluded that Weisser had done as he was asked
and that the application, as submitted for the Oct. 10 trustee
meeting, was complete.

At issue are the date of the center's original sales tax license, the
town's ensuing moratorium on medical marijuana centers, Weisser's
various business and home addresses, and need for the CMED center in
the community.

According to town staff, the original owner of the dispensary at 615
Buggy Circle applied for a sales tax license on June 29, 2010, two
days before a trustee-approved moratorium on medical marijuana
applications went into effect. At that time, the town's sole
requirement for such businesses was a sales tax license.

Weisser purchased the business last year, and the sales tax license
stayed in effect, according to Derby.

The importance of the date is that the town has been "grandfathering,"
or allowing as a non-conforming use, any medical marijuana center that
was legally in business prior to the July 1, 2010, enactment of the
moratorium.

That is because the town's medical marijuana regulations, including a
1,000-foot setback from schools, were not adopted until March 2011,
Derby explained.

"Two days before the deadline, and that constitutes grandfathering?"
asked Foulkrod.

Other trustees peppered Weisser with questions about other issues,
including Zentmyer, who repeatedly asked about the presence of at
least three addresses on Weisser's application - in Edwards, where
Weisser has a home; in Denver, where CMED has its business office; and
in Florida, where Weisser has another home.

"I'm thinking, if we're trying to collect some unpaid fee, are we at a
disadvantage if we have a slew of addresses," Zentmyer asked the town
attorney.

Hamilton indicated that Weisser owns a valid Colorado corporation,
with a Colorado address, and that Weisser's limited liability company
(LLC) is listed at the Edwards address.

The trustees who voted against the CMED application brought up a
number of other issues.

These included questions about the products being sold, concerns about
keeping track of employees after the initial permitting process, and
whether the needs of the community are already being met by existing
medical marijuana centers.

Restrictions on products and tracking employees are not part of the
town's current regulations, the trustees were told.

And Trustee Merriott noted, "It's pretty evident to me that there's a
need, if he has 86 patients." Weisser had told the trustees that he
serves 86 patients.

Merriott at that point called the objections and challenges being put
up by the other trustees "disingenuous."

"I also think it's dishonest to make this gentleman jump through all
these hoops, and make him come back, if you never had any intention of
voting for it," Merriott said.

Mayor Bernot replied forcefully that that she wonders if Carbondale
needs more than the two existing medical marijuana centers, and
indicated that Merriott's comments were out of line.

"Don't lecture me," Merriott shot back, prompting Bernot to ask, "Do
we need to take a break to have a discussion in the hall about proper
etiquette?"

The motion by Harvey to approve the application failed by a vote of
4-3, and Bernot called for a 10-minute break.

Weisser later told a reporter for the KDNK radio station, "This was a
setup," and called the denial "selective" and "vindictive."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt