On Nov. 8, Cripple Creek voters approved the sale of medical and retail marijuana within city limits. Now it’s up to city staff to create and council to approve the land-use and taxing infrastructure necessary to regulate what is still an controlled substance, according to federal law.

Cripple Creek City Council on Nov. 16 approved the first reading of an emergency moratorium “on the submission, acceptance, processing and approval of all applications for City permits and licenses relating to the operation of marijuana businesses” to give city staff time to recommend appropriate land-use, business and tax regulations and give city council time to approve them.

As the emergency ordinance states, “making it legal to obtain, possess, cultivate, grow, use, transport and distribute marijuana has the potential for abuse that should be closely monitored and regulated by local authorities to the extent possible.”

Colorado voters in 2000 approved an amendment to the state constitution legalizing the sale and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes. In 2012, voters approved another constitutional amendment legalizing the use of recreational or retail marijuana.

These constitutional amendments give municipal governments the right to regulate when, where and how retail marijuana can be sold and to set fees and collect taxes. City Attorney Erin Smith told council that the moratorium can be rescinded if the regulatory structure is developed more quickly.

For more information on Colorado’s cannabis laws, visit cannabis.colorado.gov/legal-marijuana-use/laws-about-marijuana-use.

Council also approved the following:

• A resolution for access and utility easements agreements for Steve Norris, property owner at 2716 County Road 81. The easements will remain with the property whenever it changes hands.
• An amendment to the development agreement with Full House Resorts, owner of Bronco Billy’s, extending the completion date for the Bronco Billy’s extension to Dec. 15, 2023. Due to a shortage of crews and unforeseen structural issues in two historical buildings, Full House Resorts President Daniel Lee, said the work can’t be completed by the prior deadline of July 15, 2023.
• Two ordinances on first reading reaffirming the city’s intention to vacate portions of an alley in the Fremont Addition west of Second Street and to vacate a portion of Second Street. Both vacations were requested by Full House Resorts.
• An amendment to the city’s non-Department of Transportation employee drug- and alcohol-testing handbook to align it with recent case law.

The view along Bennett Avenue in Cripple Creek is seen on June 1, 2021.

Jeff Kearney, Pikes Peak Courier