[420 Girl]

CO - Property owners along Second Avenue in Old Town Niwot are asking the Boulder County commissioners to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the area's designated rural community district.

Owners of 22 of the 28 commercial lots in that zone, which runs from Niwot Road to Murray Street, signed a petition asking the commissioners to amend the community district's codes to prohibit dispensaries and marijuana growing operations. The petition also asks the county to instate a moratorium on pot dispensaries until the amendment is passed.

"A number of landlords in the town of Niwot have been approached by folks who are looking into the possibility of doing a marijuana dispensary," said Tim Wise, owner of Wise Buys Antiques and the person who organized the petition.

Wise said that he and other business owners feel a marijuana dispensary would be "out of character" among the historic buildings along Second Avenue, an area that local businesses have worked hard to make into a welcoming place for tourists to browse.

"It's not necessarily that we're against marijuana in general," Wise said. "But we don't feel like this is an appropriate venue."

The petition from Wise and his colleagues has been forwarded to the Boulder County Land Use Department, which is looking into whether countywide rules should be drafted to specifically address marijuana dispensaries, said Dale Case, department director.

The earliest that recommendations for any such rules would reach the county's planning commission is likely May, Case said. And any new policies would have to gain final approval of the county commissioners before going into effect.

In the meantime, the Land Use Department is receiving a "pretty constant flow of inquiries" from people who are interested in starting up medical marijuana businesses. And the county does not have the authority to enact a moratorium to stop them, Case said.

Many cities within Boulder County -- including Lafayette, Longmont and Louisville -- all have dispensary moratoriums in place. But unlike cities, counties in Colorado only have powers that are granted to them specifically by the state.

"We're a county government, so we don't have a lot of options for a moratorium," Case said.

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