Voters passed new marijuana cultivation-related ordinances last year’s general election, and the Mesa County Board of Commissioners approved them this week.
The new rule only applies to more rural parts of the county and has restrictions on topics like where and how cultivation operations can be set up.
Commissioners claimed that is because the state already has stringent marijuana laws in place.
“A lot of people may read this and think, Wow, there’s not a lot of regulation for manufacturing and growing of marijuana,” said Commissioner Cody Davis. “But all of this adheres to the Colorado marijuana code, which is a rigorous… regulation on how people can manufacture.”
The removal of a county ordinance that prohibited such cultivation and the imposition of a new excise tax of up to 5% on all sales or pot transfers were the subjects of Ballot Questions 1A and 1C, which Mesa County voters approved last fall. This prompted changes to the county’s ordinance and land-use regulations.
The measures are anticipated to raise up to $752,000 annually, which will be used to pay for drug rehabilitation centers and mental health services.
After several people voiced concerns about how the new activities would be regulated and claimed that such operations could negatively effect fruit growers in the Grand Valley, the commissioners postponed the approval of the new legislation last month.
The rule places restrictions on the locations of marijuana testing or cultivation facilities, forbidding them from being located in homes or eateries and only allowing them in unincorporated parts of the county. The regulation also specifies that only licensed marijuana transporters may deliver it to retail establishments.
The law also specifies how violations of any of its requirements or failure to get a county license would be enforced.
Despite requests from some locals to impose extra limitations, such as set-back guidelines near agricultural crops or schools, commissioners adopted the new code.
Scott McInnis, a commissioner, described this county as an agricultural community. “The voters supported this with a strong majority. We are entitled to farm.
A resolution establishing additional charges for the new amenities was also passed by the commissioners. They must pay a $3,500 application cost in addition to the $2,500 yearly licensing fees for a growing facility, a product manufacturing facility, or a testing facility.
