The Colorado Weedery has submitted an application to the town of Palisade to move its retail marijuana store from its location at 125 Peach Ave. near downtown, to the Grande River Vineyards, 787 Elberta Ave.
Moving the retail location will require review by the townâs planning commission and final approval from the Board of Trustees, Palisade Community Development Director Brian Rusche said. The move will require a conditional use permit.
âWeâre going to look at it in the context of the criteria for conditional use,â Rusche said. âPart of a conditional use is that itâs not a permitted use unless itâs approved by both the planning commission and the Board of Trustees and thatâs what that process is for.â
The Palisade Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to extend a moratorium on applications for a third retail marijuana store in the town until Sept. 30 to give staff time to review and update the Marijuana Code.
Town Administrator Janet Hawkinson said the trustees have not yet directed staff to update the marijuana code, but that it would likely discuss it at its next meeting. The moratorium can be lifted early if the code is ready. The original moratorium was placed in September 2020 after the trustees voted to not approve the application for a business to operate a third store.
âThe simplest way to state . is the way the town originally wrote their marijuana code there were a certain amount of licenses given out and weâve gone through that process,â Hawkinson said. âSo we need to create a new licensing process for a third store to come in.â
Plans for a recovery center in Rifle have been delayed due to zoning complications.
Gabe Cohen, 50, had originally planned to open a storefront to help people struggling with trauma, addiction, homelessness and other mental health challenges in downtown Rifle. Called Discovery Cafe, Cohen said the facility would provide nutritious meals, recovery classes and various other activities for members who are at least 24 hours sober.
However, after making a $900 deposit with the landlord and applying fresh paint to the interior walls, Cohen was told he had to find some place else to open the cafe.
“It’s disheartening,” Cohen said. “It sucks.”