The City of Grand Junction will begin the randomized selection of regulated cannabis business licenses with the first drawing on March 2, 2023, at 11 a.m. Per city municipal code 5.13.017, this first event will include the three applicants with proposed locations within the Horizon Drive Association Business Improvement District. Two of the 10 available regulated cannabis business licenses will be issued at this event. The remaining licenses will be determined in a subsequent randomized selection process to be scheduled when a decision regarding the appeal is rendered in district court for High Colorado.
Grand Junction Municipal Code (GJMC) 5.13.017 details the procedures for the randomized selection process for regulated cannabis business licenses. Subsection (a) of this provision states that “if more than two applications are submitted for a location within Horizon Drive Association Business Improvement District, the City shall conduct a random selection process for the Horizon Drive applications only.”
GJMC Section 5.13.013 provides the following definition for “Horizon Drive Association Business Improvement District an area described as all commercial property bounded on the south by G Road, north on Horizon Drive through and including H Road, bounded on the west by 27 Road/15th Street, and on the east by 27 ½ Road northeast to Walker Field Airport Authority. The boundaries of the Horizon Drive Association District include, but are not limited to, Horizon Court, Compass Drive Association, Crossroads Boulevard, Crossroads Court, Skyline Court, Sundstrand Way, and Hilaria Avenue, or as the boundaries may be amended.”
The ordinance also states that the random selection from qualified applications will be conducted publicly and held by the Cannabis Licensing Authority at City Hall, 250 N. 5th Street, Grand Junction, CO 81501. Applicants do not need to be present at the selection but will be required to have submitted $5,000 to secure the cost of a cannabis license should their number be drawn.
At each event, all qualified applicants will be placed within the selection container and randomly assigned a number in the order they are drawn. A numbered ball for each applicant will be placed in the selection container and numbers will be randomly selected by the municipal judge. Those applicants whose numbers are drawn will be issued a regulated cannabis business license. The Cannabis Licensing Authority will notify those selected in writing by mail within seven days.
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.