Santa Fe Recreational Marijuana Rules Expected To Miss State By One Month Deadline Local News

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Santa Fe likely won’t have a set of rules for recreational cannabis in place until October 1, a month after the state begins accepting licenses to produce marijuana, City Manager Jarel LaPan said on Wednesday. Hill.

The City Planning Commission policy subcommittee has started reviewing the land use code and expects to have a list of zoning recommendations to discuss by mid-August, said Acting Director of Land Use Jason Kluck on City Council.

The timeline has angered councilor Michael Garcia, who said the pace will slow companies’ efforts.

“What’s our plan? Garcia said. “How are [we] are you going to do this in 45 days? … We are very late for this. To expect that we will adopt a quality policy and engage our constituents in 45 days or less is very disappointing. This [is] not something that just fell on us. We have known this for months. “

Sales of recreational cannabis will begin April 1, but the state has asked local municipalities to put in place a set of rules by September 1 when it begins accepting licenses to produce marijuana.

Counties and municipalities cannot ban the production and sale of cannabis, but they can place limits on density, hours of operation, and proximity to schools and daycares.

“We are starting to identify what parts of the code can contain these various amendments, how to incorporate these political considerations into our code,” said Sally Paez, deputy city attorney.

Garcia said the city could have speeded up the process.

“We knew it was going to happen,†Garcia said. “We are preventing business from happening when we should be doing everything to promote business. “

John Blair, the State Department’s deputy superintendent of regulation and licensing, said people are considering their options now that the draft rules have been released by the state.

He said most of the existing medical cannabis producers were signing leases for additional space in anticipation of the new industry.

The passage of the Cannabis Regulation Act includes new types of cannabis businesses, including “cannabis consumption areas†and “cannabis growers microenterprisesâ€.

According to a city memo, the Planning Commission policy subcommittee has already identified where some of the new businesses should reside under the existing code.

Emily Kaltenbach of the Drug Policy Alliance said much of what the city has in place for the medical cannabis industry functions as a base for recreational cannabis.

Medical cannabis stores are classified as “apothecary” in the city’s land use code.

“We are a small town and I urge the town and the members to take a look at what you have done for the medical field,†Kaltenbach said. “I don’t think there will be any major zoning changes.

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