Denver Council To Consider Marijuana Moratorium
DENVER (CBS4) - A proposal to limit the number of locations for pot shops was introduced at Monday night's Denver City Council meeting.
The council met at 5:30 p.m., and an item on the agenda was titled Marijuana Moratorium.
If approved, the changes to the Denver Retail Marijuana Code would include caps on the total number of licensed locations where marijuana cultivation and sales would be allowed inside the city.
It would also prohibit new retail sales licenses.
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Several local business owners currently have license applications working through the current system, and there is some concern about what will happen to those licenses if these changes pass.
"The reason why we're having this conversation is because myself and a bunch of other pending applicants will truly be devastated if this goes through," said business owner Truman Bradley. "No other industry has ever had this happen. The city has never gone back retroactively after people have literally spent millions."
Bradley is one of hundreds of people who currently have licenses and applications working through the system. He's worried what the possible cap would mean for his investment.
"It would be almost certain bankruptcy because we borrowed this money based on being told by the city, 'Go ahead and do your build-out and you will get your license,/" he said. "Without a license we don't have a business."
The amendment is finding some support from within the current cannabis business owners. They say the city is saturated already.
"The issue here is the pending applications," Bradley said.
Monday's public comment was the first step but the council could meet on the topic as early as April 18.
Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.
