Kevin Duggan

kevinduggan@coloradoan.com

Commissioners waive a requirement that the store be less than 500 feet from a place of recreation.

Flower Power expects to open its recreational side in two or three months.

Objections to a second recreational marijuana store in Larimer County drifted away Monday.

The Larimer County commissioners approved granting licenses to grow and sell recreational pot to Flower Power Botanicals, 1308 Duff Drive. The business is already one of two medical marijuana outlets in the unincorporated area of the county.

In the process of granting the licenses, the commissioners waived a requirement that retail marijuana stores be located at least 500 feet from a place of “amusement or recreation.”

The commissioners said they were comfortable with how Flower Power and owner Peter Verchick conduct business. The medical marijuana side of the business has operated without incident for more than three years.

Flower Power and Choice Organics, the other licensed recreational marijuana business in the county, have closely followed regulations, said Commission Steve Johnson.

“We do have a track record with those folks that’s really pretty good,” Johnson said.

The commissioners have said they will allow only two licenses for each aspect of recreational marijuana regulated by the state: cultivation, retail sales, infused-product manufacturing and testing.

With grow and sales licenses granted to Flower Power, no other recreational marijuana stores will be allowed in Larimer County outside city limits.

Following the hearing, Verchick said he expects to open the recreational side of the business in two to three months. Recreational sales will be conducted separately from the medical marijuana side of the business.

“Our top priority remains meeting the needs of our patients,” he said.

An issue about Flower Power’s application for a recreational marijuana license arose when county officials became aware that a racetrack for radio-controlled cars was located in a business next door.

County regulations require at least a 500-foot separation between marijuana facilities and places of recreation. In some cases, such as schools, a 1,000-foot separation is required.

For Flower Power to receive a license, the 500-foot rule needed to be waived. The track — E-Team Hobbyplex — is a side business for a vehicle repair shop in a building 25 feet from Flower Power.

Hobbyplex owner Lowell Ennis wrote letters of support for Flower Power’s application, stating the shop as been an excellent neighbor and has caused no problems.

Ennis also submitted petitions signed by customers supporting the application.

Most separation requirements are intended to protect businesses and residents from the impacts of a business or activity, Johnson said.

For a business that is supposed to be “protected” from a marijuana business to wholeheartedly support it is unusual and noteworthy, he said.

Commissioner Lew Gaiter supported a waiver of the separation rule for the cultivation license but not the recreational marijuana store. Gaiter said he felt uncomfortable with the small distance between the track and Flower Power.

He also was uncomfortable waiving a regulation that has been in effect only five months.

Commissioner Tom Donnelly said he had no trouble with the waivers or the licenses given Verchick’s history. Imposing the distance limit would be counterproductive in meeting its intent, he said.

Many business tried to get marijuana licenses from the county, but only two made it through the county’s competitive process, he said.

“I do think that his record should buy him some ability to try out this new venture and hopefully be successful,” Donnelly said.

The county planning commission last month voted 7-2 to recommend against granting the licenses based on the county’s distancing rule.

Had the recreational marijuana licenses been denied, Flower Power would have been able to continue operating as a medical marijuana outlet.

Verchick told the commissioners he was not trying to get “under the radar” regarding the track. He did not know it was there and neither did county officials.

“This is a unique situation; you are not setting precedent,” he said.

Verchick said his business is down 40 percent since medical marijuana stores reopened in Fort Collins. The city has agreed to allow recreational marijuana stores but has yet to issue a license.

Choice Organics, 813 Smithfield Drive, received its recreational license from the county and opened that side of its business April 9.

If Flower Power’s application for recreational pot licenses were denied, others could have applied for the licenses to grow and sell recreational marijuana, said county planner Michael Whitley.