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Dispensaries could lead to panhandling, odors and worse, and the city wanted no part. The council wanted everyone to know this is a hard stance against the sale of marijuana, City Attorney Chris Ditkas said at the time.
But Garfield has changed its tune.
Councilman Joseph Delaney said council members felt it was important to consider, because the tax incentives would benefit the city. If it is something we can do, we’d like it,” he said.
Garfield is far from the only municipality taking a second look at marijuana sales. Upper Saddle River, North Haledon, Chatham Township, Oakland and Clifton, among others, have the issue on upcoming agendas.
If the proposal makes it out of the Colorado Legislature and is signed into law by Governor Jared Polis, it would reverse a prohibition on inclusionary zoning and allow governments to require developers to contribute to the affordable-housing rental stock something that has been banned for over two decades.
In 2000, in what s known as the Telluride Decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that municipalities were not only legally prohibited from instituting traditional rent-control policies, but could not require developers to build affordable rental units.
Since then, some Colorado municipalities have developed workarounds or instituted development impact fees that go toward affordable housing. Denver has such a fee in place, but it s one of the lowest in the nation.
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Bryan Leavelle, brew master for Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew (OMF, omfmb.com) at 28th and Larimer in Denver, liked how the organizers invited some of Colorado’s best small, lesser-known brewers and companies. Photos by Ben Weinberg/The Colorado Statesman
Bryan Leavelle, brew master for Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew (OMF, omfmb.com) at 28th and Larimer in Denver, liked how the organizers invited some of Colorado’s best small, lesser-known brewers and companies. Photos by Ben Weinberg/The Colorado Statesman
Local-control advocates have wanted to repeal the prohibition on what s known as inclusionary zoning ever since a 2000 Colorado Supreme Court decision regarding a Telluride rent-control issue wound up affecting the entire state.
The lead-up to that decision began in 1981, when Boulder residents pushed an initiative seeking to institute rent control on existing buildings. In response, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill that local governments cannot institute any ordinance that controls rent, explains Megan Dollar, legislative advocacy manager at the Colorado Municipal League, a major proponent of HB-1117. As a result, she says, from 1981 to 2000, local governments acted in the same way they would have without the rent-control statute, in that when talking about new developments, they d ask for set-asides in the development of affordable-housing units.