Aurora making exceptions to some retail pot biz rules to help get shops open

AURORA | Aurora’s retail marijuana enforcement division will allow stores awarded recreational licenses to open even if not all requirements have been met as a way to speed up the approval process. Out of the 21 retail marijuana licenses awarded to stores in August, only two are open for business.

At an Amendment 64 Ad Hoc committee meeting  Thursday, marijuana enforcement division staff said stores that want to open are being held back by stringent licensing requirements such as building secure trash enclosures.

Aurora Finance Director Jason Batchelor said the division would still require the businesses to meet all building, licensing, and zoning requirements, but that the businesses could now complete some requirements later, such as landscaping, after their store is open.

Batchelor said the two stores open for business—Euflora and Terrapin Care Station—opened quickly because their buildings had little to no structural issues, and there were no tenants to relocate.

He said most other stores awarded licenses were not so lucky. 

“What we see when look at these stores is a lot of them are located where they are because that’s where they could get a lease,” he said.  “These buildings are pretty dilapidated so there’s a lot of work that’s going into getting them up and ready to run.”

Robin Peterson, who heads the city’s marijuana enforcement division, said two more store are close to opening. Starbuds and Mountain States Group, both in north Aurora on East Sixth Avenue, are having their final inspections Friday. She said five more stores are in the process of submitting business plans and meeting licensing requirements.

She said two more stores have been awarded licenses in southeast Aurora, meaning the city has awarded all but one of its 24 available licenses. Peterson said she expects nine stores to be open in the city by the end of 2015.

Peterson said the city has made $600,000 from store operating fees and $157,000 from state application fees. 

Aurora City Councilwoman Molly Markert said the delay in marijuana owners moving into old buildings is exasperating already worn-down properties. She pointed to a strip mall at  East Yale Avenue near South Parker Road where a marijuana store plans to open next year.

“There are code violations on that property that have been staid for six months now because it’s being sold,” she said. “The fence is falling down … are we stuck not doing anything at that location because it’s in limbo?”

The division staff said they can’t require the marijuana store owner to fix the fence because he is still negotiating ownership of the building.

“With or without the change in ownership the fence has fallen over and my neighbors at The Shores would like it fixed,” Markert said.