After talking pot at the town level for more than five-and-a-half years, in less than one month dispensaries will be legal in Snowmass Village.
Snowmass Town Council on Monday unanimously approved on first reading the ordinance allowing pot shops as well as the town’s carefully crafted set of regulations.
The town of Snowmass first posed its moratorium on marijuana establishments in September 2013, after Colorado voters approved recreational pot sales in November 2012.
Council has since extended the moratorium three times, in an effort to buy more time to determine if pot shops belong in the family-friendly village — a point of contention within the community and government.
The town of Snowmass last prolonged its moratorium in September, running through April 1.
“I’m really conflicted, personally, but I’ll vote with my colleagues,” said Snowmass Mayor Markey Butler, a staunch adversary of pot shops in town, at the meeting of the ordinance and framework. Town Councilwoman Alyssa Shenk, who also is opposed to dispensaries in Snowmass, agreed and followed the mayor’s motion.
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With a remaining council majority in favor of allowing pot shops in Snowmass, Shenk said it was a dead end.
“It’s not a dead end, it’s a new beginning,” Councilman Bill Madsen countered.
The town’s regulatory scheme is the product of several hours of deliberation among Town Council and staff. Council on Monday weeded through each section of the document, which the town first started working on in August, with a fine-tooth comb.
The second reading of the ordinance is scheduled at the town council meeting March 18.
For more on this story, check out this week’s Snowmass Sun, on newsstands and online Wednesday.