DENVER | Members of the Denver City Council are seeking to block new recreational marijuana businesses until 2016.

Only existing medical-marijuana dispensaries will be able to open recreational pot shops in Denver until 2016, under a plan that received initial approval by the Denver City Council Monday.
Only existing medical-marijuana dispensaries will be able to open recreational pot shops in Denver until 2016, under a plan that received initial approval by the Denver City Council Monday.

The plan received initial approval from a special committee that includes council members on Monday as part of a first draft of new regulations for the industry.

Meanwhile, Mesa County commissioners voted Monday to pass an ordinance that will ban the sale and production of marijuana in unincorporated parts of the county. Several communities around Colorado Springs have already opted out of a decision by statewide voters that allows retail sales.