The Cortez City Council in late July adopted an ordinance that removes the cap limit for the number of medical marijuana facilities.
While the council did not set the number of medical marijuana facilities to be allowed in the city, in a way it did.
City Manager Shane Hale said while there is no cap, the required zoning, distance and rules would make it almost impossible for the number of facilities to exceed six.
Currently, the city has three medical marijuana facilities and a fourth one, True Earth Medicine, has been given until Oct. 22 to find a new facility because the current location is too close to a preschool.
On top of that, Hale said a Durango operator has approached the city about opening another medical marijuana center in Cortez, though these discussions are in the preliminary stages.
Some of the requirements medical marijuana facilities must meet include not being within 1,500 feet of a school, a treatment facility, a preschool or another medical marijuana facility.
Its possible we could get six, but we probably will not get six due to the zoning requirements, Hale said.
He added, the council decided to remove the cap in order to be more business friendly.
Hale said the council discussed and debated this issue and decided not to place an arbitrary number on these facilities.
The city manager also said opening up these businesses is not an easy process since applicants need to find a building for sale or rent that works for them while meeting the citys requirements, and another obstacle is to convince a landlord, when renting, to let them open a medical marijuana facility at their place.
There are a lot of natural hurdles to this business, Hale said.
On July 10 the council by a 6-1 vote, approved a first reading regarding the removal of the cap on the number of medical marijuana centers, while setting a public hearing on the matter for July 24 when the ordinance was officially adopted.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com