Approval of a text amendment bringing businesses operating in the Chaffee County industrial zone into more or less standard setbacks has taken more than a year; even paint dries faster. The Chaffee Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously approved an amended text amendment to the county’s Land-use Code for marijuana grow operation’s setback requirements in the county’s industrial zone and instructed staff to prepare a resolution for final approval during an upcoming BoCC meeting.
The final text amendment will strike the existing section E of sections 7.8.22 B2 and 7.8.22 C2 of the Land Use Code (LUC) from a 500 foot minimum setback between the grow facilities and existing residential (in and next to the industrial zone) to new, lower setback standards.
Pure Greens operated from state-of-the-art indoor greenhouses in Smeltertown. Courtesy Photo.
The amendment was first proposed by Sterling Stoudenmire, CEO of Pure Greens on October 18, 2019. Pure Greens is a Marijuana Optional Premises Cultivation Center and/or an Infused Products Manufacturing Facility in Smeltertown, which is officially a Chaffee County industrial zone on the outskirts of Salida.
When the state legalized marijuana grow operations in 2014, no one knew what to expect, or had any experience with these operations. So Chaffee, like many counties, set extreme setback requirements for grow operations. Over the years, all but Denver County and Chaffee County reduced the setbacks to normal setbacks in place for industrial zones. Denver did away with its higher setbacks last year. Chaffee is the last county in the state of Colorado to finally address these significant setback requirements.
The Planning Commission looked at the businesses operating in the industrial zone and determined that, with the exception of mining, only mining requires setbacks that exceed the LUC 50 foot standard setbacks. All the marijuana facilities in the county are required to be located in Industrial zoning districts. Only three facilities are permitted in Chaffee County, and a moratorium is in place prohibiting additional permits at this time.
Over repeated public hearings and discussions by both the Chaffee County Planning Commission and the BoCC, the text amendments reducing these setbacks were discussed, adjusted, received public comments, and were adjusted again.
At the March 2, 2021 hearing, the Planning Commission incorporated an amended setback for the marijuana grow facilities: from the property boundaries for residences on Industrial zoned land and from residentially zoned property boundaries.
But the Planning Commission declined to address the proposed amendment in Section 7.8.22 C2e, saying they had no understanding of the infused product manufacturing process and needed more information. Staff and Planning Commission did conclude that the text amendment does not conflict with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Code. Staff proposed the following:
- A minimum 75’ distance from the closest wall of the facility to an adjacent property boundary that includes an existing residential use located in the Industrial Zone. Distances are computed by direct measurement from the nearest property line of the parcel used for residential use to the closest wall of the facility.
- A minimum 100’ distance from the closest wall of a facility to an adjacent property boundary that is residentially zoned. Distances are computed by direct measurement.
Commissioner Keith Baker made the motion to approve the text amendment recommendation and prepare a resolution. Commissioner Rusty Granzella seconded it, and it passed unanimously.
In a separate action, the BoCC unanimously approved the renewal of the Medical Marijuana Optional Premise Cultivation License for PG Grow II at 7800 CR 152 within the Townsite of Kortz (Smeltertown) in the Industrial zone.
Current cultivation licensees can apply for renewal, but the county is taking no new medical marijuana cultivation license applications until at least Dec. 2021. All state statutes regarding monitoring standards continue to apply.
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