Cannabis Business Licensing and Regulations

Cannabis Licensing Update March 2023

The Grand Junction City Council passed an emergency ordinance on March 15, 2023, amending the existing city code concerning the randomized selection process for regulated cannabis business licenses. The randomized selection will occur on March 30, 2023, at 11 a.m. in City Hall at 250 N. 5^th Street.

The ordinance clarifies the selection process for possible licenses in the Horizon Drive Business Improvement District and further clarifies that the three Horizon Drive applicants are eligible to be included in the upcoming randomized selection process.

The ordinance also creates a process for High Colorado to be allowed to participate in the selection process while awaiting a decision of an appeal in District Court.

The ordinance states that the random selection among qualified applications will be conducted publicly and held by the Cannabis Licensing Authority at City Hall. The applications will be randomly assigned a number and then a numbered ball corresponding to each application will be randomly selected by the Associate Municipal Judge.

Each selected applicant, except for a contingent application which is necessitated because of the lawsuit, will be offered the opportunity to operate one of the 10 regulated cannabis business licenses.

Applicants do not need to be present at the selection but will be required to have submitted $5,000 to secure the license should their number be drawn.

At the time of issuance of a license, the applicant is required to have paid all fees and must begin operations within 12 months of selection. If a regulated cannabis business does not begin operations within 12 months of selection through the randomized selection process, the license shall be forfeited and the business may not start operation, unless the hearing officer has granted an extension. Questions can be directed to 970-244-1509 or cityclerk@gjcity.org

February 13, 2023

A discussion on Regulations for Cannabis Product Manufacturers was held during the City Council Workshop on February 13, 2022. Click here to see the full agenda.

Cannabis Retail License Process

The process to determine licenses for Cannabis Retail stores and co-located Medical and Retail Cannabis stores in the City of Grand Junction continues. The application review process is very thorough and designed to enable all applicants to be provided with the same opportunity to participate in the final randomized selection. To review the list of applicants that advanced to the randomized selection, please click here.

As of the application deadline of June 8, 2022, the city clerk’s office had received 47 applications. At that point, an initial review of applications for completeness was conducted by city staff. From that initial review, 26 applicants were advanced to the next phase and 21 were sent denial letters. An appeal process was made available to those denied applicants with a deadline of 10 days from receipt of the denial letter. As of July 7, the city received 13 requests for appeal which were forwarded to the hearing officer for scheduling.

For applications deemed complete, the next step was an evaluation by specific departments including background checks conducted by police, code compliance of the plan reviewed by the fire department, and a check to ensure a business license application, zoning verification, an operating plan, insurance, and any other documentation was received as required by state law. This process took the anticipated 90 days and once complete, successful applicants were scheduled for a hearing.

The review and hearing process for the completed applications was scheduled as follows:

7 hearings scheduled for September
21 hearings scheduled for October
8 hearings scheduled for November
1 hearing scheduled for December
1 hearing scheduled for January

The City has worked through one appeal to the District Court. Others that are denied could appeal to the District Court which would then delay the final stage of the licensing process by 45 to 60 days.

Once the appeal and hearing process is complete, applicants will notified 14 days prior about the randomized selection process that will be conducted to select the 10 applicants that will receive a license. Applicants receiving a license will have up to one year to open their store.

Applicant Information

The City of Grand Junction’s Cannabis Business License application process is complete, and by the deadline of 5 p.m. on June 8, 2022, 47 applications had been received. Of those submitted, 26 are complete and a list can be found on the City’s website. However, after applications were reviewed by the City Clerk’s Office, 21 were found to be incomplete and those applicants are being notified by mail with an opportunity to appeal.

Those receiving denial letters were able to submit an appeal within 10 days of the date of the notice of denial. All appeals will be heard by Stephanie Rubinstein, the City of Grand Junction Cannabis Hearing Officer.

The 26 applications determined to be complete by a committee of representatives from city departments led by the City Clerk’s office were advanced to the next phase of the process for compliance review.

Completed applications included the following criteria: business license application, zoning verification, a secured property with use authorization, an operating plan (addressing ventilation, hazardous materials, fire protection, product delivery/packaging/storage, signage, parking, lighting, legal service, and security), financial interests, consent for background checks, insurance, and payment of application fees.

Successful applicants will each have a public hearing conducted by Stephanie Rubinstein, the City Council-appointed cannabis hearing officer. After the public hearings, the approved applications will be put into a lottery for the selection of the 10 licenses available from the City.

Questions about cannabis licensing with the city of Grand Junction should be directed to the City Clerk's Office at cityclerk@gjcity.org or 970-244-1509.

License Application Hearings

September 7, 2022, at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Court Hearing Room in City Hall, 250 N 5th Street