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Minutes - Planning Board - 11/5/2009 CITY OF BOULDER PLANNING BOARD ACTION MINUTES November 5, 2009 1777 Broadway, Council Chambers A permanent set of these minutes and a tape recording (maintained for a period of seven years) are retained in Central Records (telephone: 303-441-3043). Minutes and streaming audio are also available on the web at: http://www.bouldereolorado.gov PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: KC Becker Bill Holicky Elise Jones Andrew Shoemaker Adrian Sopher, Chair Mary Young PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Willa Johnson STAFF PRESENT: Steve Buckbee, Civil Engineer II David Driskell, Executive Director of Community Planning and Sustainability Charles Ferro, Acting Land Use Review Manager David Gehr, Assistant City Attorney Kathy Haddock, Senior Assistant City Attorney Brian Holmes, Zoning Administrator Jessica Vaughn, Planner I Paula Weber, Administrative Specialist III 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair, A. Sopher, declared a quorum at 6:02 p.m. and the following business was conducted. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES No minutes were scheduled for approval. 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Elizabeth Allen spoke to the board about Valmont Bike Park and her concerns about amplified noise. Mike Randall spoke to the board about 75 Bellevue. 4. DISCUSSION OF DISPOSITIONS, PLANNING BOARD CALL-UPS Call-up items: 3153 and 3179 9°i Street Minor Subdivision. This item was not called up. 75 Bellevue Drive; Final Plat #TEC2009-00010. This item was not called up. I Approval of Use Review for 1310 College Ave. LUR2009-00049. This item was not called up. 5. ACTION ITEMS A. Discussion and direction regarding potential regulatory changes regarding the growing, dispensing, and processing of medical marijuana. Staff Presentation C. Ferro presented the item to the board. Public Hearing Elizabeth Allen, Boulder, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Rob Smoke, 2445 19°i Street, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana and legalization of marijuana. Seth Brigham, 1580 7"' Street Apt. A., spoke to the board about affordability of medical marijuana and in support of medical marijuana. Alan Trenary 11484 W. 105'x' Way, Westminster, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He said there is a need for regulation and commercial growing should not be allowed in private homes. Erin Marcove, 4640 S. Utica St., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Jay Ross Epstein, 1325 Broadway (pooling time with Rachel Pryor) spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He asked the board to pass a six month moratorium and place a hold on all new applications. Rachel Pryor, (pooled time with Jay Ross Epstein) JP Stormer, 1325 Broadway St. #213, Longmont, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. James Stott, P.O.Box 30, Lafayette, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Daniel Smith, 5932 Gunbarrel Ave. Unit F, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Laura Kriho, P.O. Box 19084, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. She asked the board not to place a moratorium right now. Garrett Clark, 1135 13° St., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Gynn "Wolf' Wolfstar, RN, P.O. Box 462, Nederland, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Edward Bruder, 113 Eagle Valley Dr., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Billy Castoronova, 1457 Denver Ave. Loveland, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He does not want a moratorium to be placed on new businesses. Ryan Hartman, G 136 Habitat Dr. (pooled time with Russell Wise) spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He said some regulations are necessary in order to make this a respectable business. Russell Wise, 2326 Goss St. (pooled time with Ryan Hartman). Chris Norris, 1298 Aikins, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Sean Gosine, 1221 Pearl St. #15, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Vie Sicard, 4625 15`x' St., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He said there is a need for regulation but asked the board to be careful in what they decide. Nicholas Cokas, 597 Lehigh Cir. Erie, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. 2 Dr. M.A. Guerreso P.C. 207 Sunrise Ln., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Brooke Riggins, 2326 Goss St. (pooled time with Ariel Guerreso) Kathleen Chippi, P.O. 1794, spoke to the board in support of medial marijuana. She said marijuana is not lethal. Todd Siegel, 697 Walden Cir., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana and did not support the moratorium. Pierre Werner, 1121 Broadway G-1, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Richard Bookal, P.O. Box 2133, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Adam Mahen, P.O. Box 4707, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Lauren Davis, Denver, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Michael Jacobs, 5 Bucknell Ct., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. K. Evan Rude, 310 Main St., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Bob Walborn, P.O. Box 699, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana and not in support of a moratorium. Jason Ellingson, 3055 30d' St. 31, spoke in support of medical marijuana as a caregiver and patient. He said the moratorium will harm the industry. Michael Anderegg, 2635 Mapleton Ave., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He said the moratorium will harm the industry. Ryan Anderson, P.O. Box 7423, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. He talked to the board about the different types of dispensaries. He said downtown is one of the best places to have a dispensary because of the high level of police presence. Timothy Tipton, Boulder, (pooled time with James Marks) spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. James Marks, Boulder, (pooled time with Timothy Tipton). Chris Duffy, 720 S. 42"d St., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Brice Niederriter, 1107 12d' St. #306, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Jean Paul Matthews, 5443 Sugarloaf Rd., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Penny Fagan, 1630 30'h St. #494, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Stephen Keenan, 3527 Spring Creek Pl., spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Rev. Jeremy DePinto, 1 162 Cedar St. Broomfield, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Larissa Mulder, P.O. Box 17925, spoke in support of medical marijuana. Travis Simpson, Denver, spoke in support of medical marijuana. Migel Ramos, P. O. Box, Boulder, CO, spoke to the board in support of medical marijuana. Board Discussion K. Becker said the Planning Board is only one step in this process and she asked the public to provide comments to City Council for their consideration on what would help legitimize medical marijuana businesses. A. Sopher said this is still a process and there will be no conclusion tonight. He asked the public to provide information on the business models that they are using. A. Shoemaker asked dispensary owners or grow operation owners who are interested in having the city staff visit their facilities to let the city staff know. A. Sopher would like a tour of the various business models that are out there. M. Young said it would be helpful to know for the various business models what locations work best. 3 Prohibition A. Sopher straw polled the board whether they support prohibition. The board did not support prohibition (6-0, W. Johnson absent). Moratorium A. Sopher straw polled the board as to whether they support a full moratorium. The board did not support a full moratorium (6-0, W. Johnson absent). The board proposed a 1,000 foot separation from schools as part of an interim ordinance, matching state/federal guidelines for definition of "school" and measurement method. The board proposed an interim ordinance to allow no more than (some quantity determined by staff) dispensaries within 1,000 square feet in the use-by-right retail use zones with no limitations related to "professional office MMD" uses. Prohibit "personal service MMD" uses. The board proposed that growing operations meet the guidelines of the use referred to in the Land Use Code as greenhouse and plant nurseries. - Prohibit "Crop Production" use as its definition refers to wholesaling of produce/product. - Permit only "Green House or "Nursery" use categories. - No commercial growing operations in residential zones. - As an accessory use, allow only what is needed for personal medicinal uses to be grown in residential zones. The board proposed that for accessory uses in residential zones no more plants would be allowed to be grown than are required for personal use under medial marijuana guidelines. The board proposed no production businesses ("grow operations") in residential zones beyond support of personal medical marijuana use in the interim. E. Jones said location is something that needs to be addressed in the interim and the rest of this can be addressed at a later date. A. Shoemaker asked the board if there should be a concern about safety and whether the board should address these concerns in the interim. A. Shoemaker asked if there are health department concerns for dispensaries that cook some of their products. D. Driskell said that would be an issue for the County Health department. A. Shoemaker asked about in the interim if the board is concerned about consumption on the premises. He asked if smoking on the premises changes the character of the dispensary. A. Sopher said he is not sure the board can address this fairly in an interim measure. He thought this was a good thing to look at in terns of both the business models that are being brought fourth and how that might affect the zone and whether or not that business model might suit the particular zone character. Then the board can address it in another context at a future date. K. Becker said it is something staff can add to the work plan. A. Shoemaker asked whether alcohol would be sold on the premises. 4 K. Haddock said it is covered in one way because the only way you can sell alcohol is with a liquor license, the only thing that could happen is that an existing liquor license establishment could have medical marijuana for sale. B. Holicky said the state Liquor Board can revoke that liquor license. He said the establishment would have to qualify as a caregiver. K. Haddock said she is not sure if you would automatically lose your liquor license. We definitely would need to look at it for the long term. M. Young stated that she didn't feel there was a problem with saturation and that the market would take care of solving the problem of saturation. E. Jones said medical marijuana has a public good and there is a minimum amount of regulation that would be necessary in order to be sure that these are healthy businesses and everyone is safe. A. Shoemaker said it has nothing to do with making it hard on people. Creating a licensing regime to the extent that we can do that will do far more in taking the lead in terms of promoting the eventual legalization of marijuana than taking a less regulatory approach. He suggested considering whether or not Boulder would be the first city in Colorado or perhaps in the nation to adopt a licensing regime for medical marijuana which would lead the nation. It is an entirely different approach. Some regulations make it more difficult for patients to get the cannabis but there are a lot of regulations that help the image and will further legitimize the cause. Signage issues while it is regulation could be good for the industry. He doesn't agree with less regulation is better, he thinks less regulation that harms the patient is better. He said we should think about how we can proactively help people. E. Jones said she is referring to a lot of the things that are listed here that have a way of creating more limitations. She is not against exploring helping create a more legitimate business. A. Sopher said he is not interested at all in having growers and dispensaries become larger businesses. He said we need to allow for multiple models of delivery of medical marijuana services to people. He does not want to push out people who are just doing small businesses here, small scale operations that are genuinely serving the community but doing it safely. B. Holicky agreed with A. Sopher. He does not want to have the licensing be so much of a burden that it pushes people to larger financial models to pay for it but he does appreciate what A. Shoemaker is saying. This whole thing is caught in a "don't ask don't tell" and it shouldn't be, there was a vote of the people and we should do what we can to embrace that and there could be a change in the future that could make it more accessible. He would like to recommend to council that we should look at licensing. K. Becker said we are not saying we know we want to do licensing we are saying we want council to consider it. K. Haddock clarified that the board was talking about licensing in a way to make it safer and the patient ends up with a safer product and the patient knows what they are getting. A. Shoemaker said we should legitimize and make transparent the use of medical marijuana if necessary taking the lead in the nation on the issue, focusing on patient safety and the ability to access and balancing that with public safety. We should also talk about the fact that this should be taxed, it should not be taxed' differently than other items. If the city is going to set up a licensing program and further legitimize it, it should be taxed. A. Sopher said we need to be careful about not pushing out smaller providers. K. Becker would like the city to respond to the industry and what helps with their business. 5 SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS At the conclusion of the board's discussion, staff outlined what they heard to be they points related to interim regulations and direction for the work program toward development of longer term regulations. INTERIM REGULATIONS: 1) SEPARATION REQUIREMENT -Require that MMDs be located at least 1000' from schools. -Use state / fed definition of "school" and measurement method. 2) SATURATION / DENSITY -No more than 3 medical marijuana establishments can be within 1000' radius of each other in zones that allow retail by-right. -Prohibit "personal service MMD" uses. -Allow "professional office MMD" uses. 3) COMMERCIAL / WHOLESALE GROW OPERATIONS -Prohibit "Crop Production" use as its definition refers to wholesaling of produce / product. -Permit only "Green House or "Nursery" use categories. -No commercial growing operations in residential zones. -As an accessory use, allow only what is needed for personal medicinal uses to be grown in residential zones. DIRECTION FOR WORK PROGRAM: GUIDING PRINCIPLES: 1) Legitimize MMDs through licensing requirements (establish a "licensing regime"). 2) Make MMDs safe, clean and accessible. 3) Protect patient safety. 4) Assure high quality product that is safe and predictable. 5) Promote successful small businesses - don't push out small providers. 6) MM should pay its own way in the city. 7) Minimize negative impacts on the community. OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR DISPENSARIES: - Consider security measures similar to those of a pharmacy (safes and limited amounts of product stored on-site). - Explore potential licensing requirements for MMDs. - County Health Department Regulations for baking, tinctures, edibles, etc. - Explore issues surrounding consumption of product on-site / indoor air quality. - Research which business models are best suited for specific zone districts - Explore additional separation requirements from establishments that sell or serve liquor (Is there a need for a liquor license for tincture involving grain alcohol extracts?). - Explore all "traditional" land use regulations in Section F of the WIP. 6 B. An Ordinance establishing additional tree protection standards, amending Chapter 8- 2, B.R.C. 1981 creating an affirmative obligation of adjacent property owners to maintain street trees; amending Title 9, Land Use Code B.R.C. 1981 requirements for site review and the landscaping standards. An Ordinance establishing requirements for a certified arborist license and other requirements related to the removing or maintaining and amending Chapter 6-6, "Protecting trees and plants"; and setting forth related details. The board continued this item to the November 19, 2009 Planning Board meeting. 6. MATTERS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD, PLANNING DIRECTOR, AND CITY ATTORNEY D. Driskell notified the board that there will be Land Use Review Manager Presentations at the Nov 19 Planning Board meeting beginning at 5 pm. The regular meeting will begin at 6 pm. The Nov 19 meeting will be held at the West Senior Center. 7. DEBRIEF/AGENDA CHECK 8. ADJOURNMENT The Planning Board adjourned the meeting at 11:15 p.m. APPROVED BY Board ai c, (~`I DATE 7