After unanimous approval on Feb. 10 from the Cortez City Council, Durango Organics and the Medicine Man have conditional approval to sell recreational pot in city limits, contingent upon their receipt of a certificate of occupancy.
Durango Organics, owned by Durango residents Jonny Radding and Aaron Miles, opened as a medical dispensary in early December. It’s the Durango brand’s first venture outside La Plata County. The shop’s permit was approved conditionally, because floor plan modifications with the city are still being hashed out. Management expects Durango Organics to be open for recreational customers in about two weeks.
Medicine Man reopened its Main Street medical dispensary in December after being shut down by the city for code violations.
Questions arose at the Feb. 10 meeting of whether the dispensary would be able to open for recreational sales the following morning because the shop still lacked a paper copy of their building plans, necessary for a certificate of occupancy from the city. Building inspector Sam Proffer explained that an electronic copy had been emailed, but a hard copy was essential.
Medicine Man owners Sherry Garcia and Chris Wolf said that the paperwork snag could be remedied the next day and urged the council to clear any red tape in the way of their certificate of occupancy.
“We’ve paid for all permits, licensing, sales tax,” said Garcia. “We’re ready. It’s been a long time.”
Wolf expressed frustration with what he perceived as a lack of communication between the city officials and building department.
“The permit has been paid for, the architect has emailed all documents, so now we’re just waiting for hard copy and plans. We’re just basically waiting for copies,” said Wolf. “There seems to be a disconnect with Proffer and city staff. … You can understand we need to open the front doors, so I would like for you to take that into consideration and allow us to open tomorrow.”
Proffer and city planning director Kirsten Sackett both told the council that the business having a paper copy of design plans was a standard requirement of any new business seeking a certificate of occupancy, regardless of use.
“We gave them the authority to make changes to the interior and update the plans to show changes. … They’ve got to have all the paper plans on-site that shows what the use of that facility is. The piece of paper is actually petty important. It’s a key component for compliance in city,” Proffer said.
Like other applicants that were close to the finish line but still needed to get a few loose ends tied up, Medicine Man’s retail permit application was given conditional approval.
At the Feb. 3 Cortez City Council meeting, two dispensaries, Herbal Alternative and The Beacon were given retail permit approval.
The Beacon’s approval was conditional, pending a final building inspection.
