POT SHOP

made their case during the meeting, saying people already drive too fast on Morrison Road, and a retail marijuana shop would just make things worse. ey also said people now park in their subdivision on their way to Bear Creek Lake Park, and when residents want to walk to the park, they are taking their lives in their hands as they cross Morrison Road.

“Morrison Road is like a speedway,” said Mary Beth Mainero, who lives in Red Rocks Ranch. “If (Bear Creek Lake) park is lled, people park in our neighborhood. We have a big, big concern about tra c, and when the building is being built, will tra c come through our neighborhood? … We should have a say. We are your new neighbors.”

Red Rocks Ranch resident Frank Lansville said: “We strongly encourage you all to consider … putting something else on that property.”

Background

In April 2022, Morrison residents voted to allow a marijuana shop east of the Dakota Hogback Formation, and in December, the board entered into a contract with LivWell, one of the largest cannabis operations in the nation, to construct a retail store on the one-acre parcel. LivWell expects to provide the town with between $800,000 and $1.3 million each year in sales-tax revenue, plus it will pay the town $15,000 a month to lease the property.

LivWell had until the end of March to complete its due diligence, but the Town Board continues to extend the due-diligence period. Assuming LivWell moves forward with the contract, it would be responsible for building the store, the parking lot and the access road from the store to Morrison Road.

Response to concerns

Carrie McCool, the town’s planner, told residents that the proposal would go through the town’s sitedevelopment process that is overseen by the Planning Commission. It would include a look at all improvements to the site including access, lighting, safety, fencing between the shop and the residential area, and more. e Planning Commission would also request a tra c study, she said.

Town o cials assured residents they would have opportunities to comment on the proposal.

She said if the marijuana shop deal falls through, other commercial uses could be put on that site.

“We understand your concerns,” town Trustee Adam Way said. “We are not trying to be bad neighbors.”

The Difference Between The Town Of Morrison And The Morrison Zip Code

Residents in Red Rocks Ranch got a geography lesson of sorts when they learned that while they have Morrison addresses and ZIP code, they don’t actually live in the Town of Morrison. More than a dozen residents attended a Morrison Town Board meeting on Aug. 1 to voice concerns about a marijuana shop that the town plans to allow on property that borders the subdivision. The residents asked why they weren’t informed about an election in April 2022 to get the sentiment of Morrison residents about the marijuana shop and why they weren’t informed that the town entered into an agreement with LivWell, a cannabis operation, in December 2022 to operate the shop.

They argued that the property taxes the town would get from the 1,300 homes being built in Red Rocks Ranch would outweigh the amount of revenue the town would get from the marijuana shop.

That’s when they learned that Morrison’s borders are very small with about 125 homes and 400 residents, while the ZIP code area is very large – with more than 6,000 homes — and the di erentiation has caused confusion on more than one occasion. Red Rocks Ranch is actually in unincorporated Je erson County.

According to the U. S. Postal Service website, the 80465 ZIP code in large and generally runs from Aspen Park, Evergreen, Indian Hills and Kittredge on the west to Highway 74 on the north, though it encompasses Red Rocks Ranch on the northeast and goes further southeast to Simms Street.

A Town of Morrison sta member said the town gets calls regularly from people asking about building permits and the like, only to learn they live in unincorporated Je erson County instead.

Trustee Katie Gill added that the town needed the revenue the shop would bring, and while she had been on the fence about whether Morrison should have a marijuana shop, voters had spoken, and she was following their wishes.

“I will ght to make sure we minimize tra c impact, visual impact and any crime-related issues,” she said.