Cripple Creek City Council ready to refer reefer question to ballot
CRIPPLE CREEK • The recreational marijuana ballot question came back to City Council Aug. 17 for another round.
Earlier in the month, on Aug. 3, the council denied approval of a citizen-initiated ordinance, but state law requires that the question be referred to the voters by ordinance.
The ordinance, which sets the ballot measure language giving voters the choice of authorizing the sale of recreational marijuana in the city and the ballot issue that would allow the city to tax the sales of recreational marijuana, passed unanimously on initial posting.
Council gave City Attorney Erin Smith the go-ahead to add a few amendments to the ordinance before second reading. The ballot issue language sets a 5% excise tax on all recreactional marijuana sales, but doesn’t address sales taxes, business permits and other details.
Smith asked for time to research these questions and an additional question about a possible occupation fee. She said she will amend the language to set the sales tax at “up to” 18%, and set the occupation fee at “up to” $5 per transaction.
When asked by Councilmember Mark Green if these fees would overburden these new business owners, City Administrator Frank Salvato said council can set any sales tax or occupation tax up to the limits.
“We just want to have the option,” he said. “Just in case it costs more to administer the program than the revenue it generates.”
Green agreed with this explanation, saying, “We don’t know how much revenue will or won’t be generated if voters approve this measure.”
Council can set business license fees by resolution after the election if voters approve the ballot questions.
Two other items on the council agenda pertained to the election process. The first was the adoption on second reading of an ordinance that the city is determined to “follow the provisions of the Uniform Election Code for the Nov. 8, 2022, General Election.”
The second was an intergovernmental agreement with the Teller County Clerk and Recorder to conduct the election.
In other business, the council adopted an amendment to the city building code and, by reference, to the 2018 International Building Code that the city adopted in 2019. The city and IBC codes set the maximum square footage of an one-story accessory building on residential and commercial properties at 120 square feet without a building permit. With the adoption of this ordinance, that maximum was changed to 200 square feet.
Building Official Ken Hartsfield said this change could save property owners a substantial amount of money because, as the code was originally approved, any accessory building larger that 120 square feet would have required:
• An engineered soils report.
• An engineered foundation design.
• A frost protected foundation. An unheated structure requires that the bottom of the foundation to be at least 36” below grade to prevent frost heave.
These requirements could be costly and most accessory buildings are constructed on wood skid or pad footings without a foundation, he stated in his memo to council.
William Diment withdrew two requests for variances, which will insteadl be considered at the Sept. 7 council meeting. A request by Maurice and Lois Woods to modify a conditional use permit was also pushed out to Sept. 7.
Council also approved Human Resources and Risk Management Director Carol Stotts’ request to update the employee handbook to bring it into compliance with a new state law that changes the workers’ compensation injury notice process, including changing the notice an employer is required to post in the workplace and the requirements for occupational disease reporting, under Colorado law.
The business landscape of Cripple Creek could include recreational marjiuana businesses if voters approve a ballot initiative in November.