Grand Junction City Council switched course in its discussions of marijuana regulations Monday, directing city staff to set up a criteria for a totally merit-based system of choosing who will get each of the 10 licenses available for recreational marijuana businesses.
Previously, the city had been working toward choosing candidates via a weighted lottery. When the council last discussed marijuana regulations, in October, they had been picking which criteria would weigh more heavily in the lottery.
Now, City Manager Greg Caton told city council staff will work to have a draft ordinance ready in February with criteria for awarding the licenses.
Because the previous criteria, which council was in the process of choosing and included things like tax compliance, complaint resolution processes, a business plan, community benefit and sustainable business practices, was chosen based on the weighted lottery, it won’t be used, and city staff will present a new criteria with its draft ordinance.
Marijuana industry professionals have been advocating for a merit-based approach during the regulation discussions.
Council member Anna Stout said she was worried the merit-based approach would favor the existing cannabis companies.
“One of the things council may want to consider is who you have heard from,” City Attorney John Shaver said. “You have heard from the industry, and of course the industry is going to recommend merit, because the industry is most likely to demonstrate merit.”
Shaver also said the selection methods are being put in place because city council decided to cap the number of licenses awarded for retail marijuana businesses in the city at 10, and therefore expects to have more applicants than licenses.
In October, council members Rick Taggart and Dennis Simpson said they wanted to ditch the weighted lottery approach for the full-merit system. Taggart said he was initially in favor of the weighted lottery but is not any more.
“I personally don’t want to put any of this to chance,” Taggart said.
Stout disagreed, saying chance adds fairness to the process.
POSSIBLE FUTURE LITIGATION
Taggart and Simpson were joined Monday by council member Philip Pe’a. Pe’a asked Shaver whether any of the proposed systems could lead to more litigation against the city.
“There might be litigation no matter what we do,” Shaver said, but he noted there might be more chance of being sued with a merit system because it has more room for subjectivity.
Stout said she was in favor of a free market system similar to how liquor stores are regulated. Barring that, Stout said she wanted a hybrid system in which applicants must meet certain criteria to get into the lottery, but was willing to compromise and move forward with the merit system.
Stout noted other businesses aren’t subject to the type of application process marijuana businesses are being subjected to.
Mayor Chuck McDaniel also favored the hybrid option, but said he thought the city could put together a merit-based system that reflects city council’s priorities.
Council member Abe Herman said he was “agnostic” and wanted to move forward with something, as the council can change things in the future if they don’t work.
“I want to stop spinning our wheels and get some decisions made and get a process in place, so whatever the majority of council is comfortable with, if it gets us a little closer in that direction I’m willing to compromise,” Herman said.
Council member Randall Reitz said he slightly preferred the weighted lottery to the merit system but was willing to compromise.
Reitz said he actually preferred the proposal by Invest In GJ, a group led by Dr. Michael Pramenko and David Thurow, asking for exclusive licenses for recreational marijuana in Grand Junction, starting with 3-4 stores, that says it will put the profits from the stores into social determinants of health.
Several speakers advocated for Invest In GJ’s plan during public comment.
“I come from Utah, which is the state with the highest per-capita consumption of Jell-O,” Reitz said. “And in Utah, Jell-O is full of other food items. You can put mandarin oranges, pineapples, cashews, cottage cheese, about anything you want in Jell-O. The only real rule is you have to get the fruit in before it settles, before it hardens, because once it hardens there’s no more fruit going in the Jell-O. And so we’re in this kind of unique moment, as the only city, or one of the few cities who still has unsettled Jell-O around cannabis, and if we’re going to loot at something unique or different, I think it’s now or never.”
Reitz, who is the Director of Behavioral Sciences for SCL Health, was the only council member who voiced support for the proposal, however.
Dan Sullivan, who owns the Green Joint, a nine-shop chain in western Colorado, spoke against Invest In GJ’s proposal, saying it was “reminiscent of communism.”
“Let capitalism and competition do their magic. It works,” Sullivan said. “This is America and this is Colorado.”
During public comment, several speakers noted the process of coming up with a plan to implement recreational marijuana is taking a while.
City voters decided in April 2021 to allow recreational marijuana businesses in the city.
“We don’t have to be different, let’s just pick what’s been done and done well,” Oliver Spees said during public comment.
Council members acknowledged the process is taking some time.
“In all, we’ve been here six separate work sessions for these regulations,” McDaniel said.
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