Granby remains opposed to proposed dispensary location

Eli Pace / epace@skyhinews.com
Granby’s elected officials have reasserted their opposition to a marijuana dispensary just outside town limits.
After a nine month delay because of an issue with the building lease, the hearing for IgadI’s proposed dispensary near Granby has been rescheduled for 10:30 a.m. Aug. 25. If passed, it would be IgadI’s second location in Grand County. Last September, the Granby Board of Trustees voted unanimously opposing the location.
However, the location at 843 W. Agate Ave. is not within town limits so the decision lies with the county. The Granby Trustees voted again on Tuesday against the proposed dispensary.
The trustees pointed to the fact that Granby residents voted in 2010 against allowing medical marijuana in town.
“We’re just moving forward with what the original vote was,” Trustee Josh Hardy said.
Two members of the public commented at Tuesday’s meeting with one highlighting the fact that the proposed dispensary is in the jurisdiction of the county. The other asked the town to reconsider the 10-year-old ballot measure because of the medical benefits of marijuana.
The Granby board voted 3-1 opposing the location, with Trustee Nick Raible dissenting. Raible pointed to the location of the dispensary and strict marijuana regulations as the reasoning for his decision.
“Personally, I do see the value — especially for cancer patients, as my wife is one — in having medical marijuana,” he said over the phone Thursday. “I might feel very differently if it were in town, but … it’s not in town. I feel like it’s the county’s responsibility.”
He added that the ballot question other trustees used for their reasoning was a decade old.
A recreational marijuana question could be placed on Granby’s ballot either through board action or through a citizen petition. The deadline to place anything on a ballot is Sept. 4, which the trustees said did not allow enough time to consider board action on such a measure.
“If the public decided to get it on another ballot, whether it be November or another ballot in the future, I would say great,” Hardy added. “Let that go back to the voters, but the history shows for us that our townspeople did not want it.”
Even with the town opposed, Trustee Natascha O’Flaherty said she believed the county would approve the application. She cited a similar 2017 circumstance when the county accepted Serene Wellness’ proposed dispensary on unincorporated land abutting Winter Park despite strong opposition from the town.
She encouraged Granby to revisit a ballot measure in the future if the county approves the location.
Town Manager Ted Cherry will be attending the Aug. 25 county hearing as a representative of the town.
In other business:
• The board chose not to move forward with a Gallagher stabilization measure. Grand County, Winter Park and Fraser plan to have a ballot question this November asking voters to adjust mill levies to keep revenue consistent based on the state’s residential assessment rate.
Trustee O’Flaherty maintained that such a measure could raise taxes and asked that if it were to go on the ballot that the question state so clearly. The town manager advised that, if the language mentioned raising taxes, the town should not move forward with the ballot measure, as he suspected it would not pass.
Trustee Raible made a motion that the stabilization measure go forward without the tax language, but heard no second and the motion died.
• The board appointed Trustee Hardy as the acting mayor. If the mayor and mayor pro-tem are unavailable for a board meeting, the acting mayor runs the meeting. This was the case Tuesday, due to Mayor Paul Chavoustie’s impending departure and Mayor Pro-Tem Deb Shaw being out ill.

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