Louisville’s regulations for retail marijuana shops Can locate no closer than 1,320 feet from schools, playgrounds and the future St. Louis Parish site Are prohibited from operating downtown The maximum number of shops in the city is four The maximum size of a shop is 2,000 square feet for retail, 1,800 for medical (3,800 square feet for dual licensees) Hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. May sell merchandise emblazoned with logo; may not give coupons or free samples New shops must pay the city a one-time $2,500 licensing fee ($250 for dispensaries converting to retail), and a $1,500 annual operating fee Retail marijuana cultivation and product manufacturing are banned, but testing facilities are allowed

LOUISVILLE — The City Council waded cautiously into the brave new world of retail marijuana Tuesday night, giving final approval to a comprehensive set of regulations to govern future pot shops in the city.

A moratorium the council placed on the opening of new retail marijuana establishments earlier this year remains in place until the end of 2014, but the ordinances passed Tuesday allow the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries in the Colony Square shopping center to seek retail licenses.

Those two businesses, AlterMeds and Compassionate Pain Management, will also be allowed to expand and relocate within a quarter-mile of where they are now. Most of the city remains off limits to any retail marijuana sales.

Councilman Jeff Lipton said it’s important that Louisville move slowly on what is a totally new industry with no precedent anywhere else in the country.

“As a city, we ought to be very conservative and go really slow and see how this experiment works,” he said. “It’s easier to do that than to constrain later if we have issues come up.”

Colorado voters last year passed Amendment 64, which legalizes the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults. Washington was the only other state to legalize weed in 2012.

Colorado’s law allows municipalities to either ban retail pot establishments or create rules to regulate them. Louisville has been wrestling with just how welcoming or restrictive to be with the nascent industry.

In the end, the council members compromised and horse-traded on a number of proposed restrictions Tuesday. They agreed to limit the number of pot shops in the city to four, keep them 1,320 feet away from schools, playgrounds and the future St. Louis Parish site, prohibit them downtown, and limit their size to a total of 3,800 square feet — 2,000 square feet for retail and 1,800 square feet for medical.

A split on the council became apparent during discussions, with several members pushing for a more cautious approach and others urging that marijuana be regulated like alcohol.

A proposal to prohibit pot shops in Louisville from selling merchandise with their logo on it, part of an effort to restrict the potential marketing of marijuana to children, ran into opposition from council members who felt that it threatened to infringe on First Amendment rights.

“I’m going to err on freedom of speech on this,” said Councilwoman Susan Loo, stating her opposition to the restriction.

Councilwoman Ashley Stolzmann agreed, saying that any regulations the city puts in place should reflect “the will of the voters” with regard to legalizing the use of pot in Colorado. Voters in Louisville approved Amendment 64 by a 63-to-37 percent margin.

But Councilwoman Emily Jasiak said she is in the public relations business and knows the power of marketing and its ability to influence consumers, especially youth.

The merchandise ban failed in a 4-3 vote.

Both Louisville medical marijuana dispensary owners said Tuesday that they plan to seek dual licenses allowing them to continue selling to their patients and, for the first time, to the general public.

But CPM owner Shaun Gindi and AlterMeds owner Laurel Alterman both said they won’t likely be able to obtain their retail licenses until late January or early February at the earliest.