Vil 5 29 14

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POLITICS

Democrat seeks to tilt balance on Board of Commissioners

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6

SCHOOL

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Congrats Cherry Creek High School grads

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Cherry Creek High School seniors graduate in a May 22 ceremony at the high school’s Stutler Bowl.

Democrat Martha Karnopp says she is not so much running against Republican incumbent Nancy Sharpe as she is running for the residents of Arapahoe County.

Volume 32 • Number 27 • May 29, 2014

www.villagerpublishing.com

BUSINESS

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Refurbished Centennial King Soopers unveiled

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The newly renovated 16,000-square-foot King Soopers store in the Cherrywood Square shopping plaza saw its grand reopening on May 21.

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Index

Page 4........................................ Opinion Pages 10 - 23.............................Fleurish Pages 24 - 28...............................Legals Page 28................................. Classifieds TheVillagerNewspaper

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Hooray for Heritage!

Makowa, a bald eagle from Hawkquest, was part of Heritage High School’s graduation festivities.

Photo courtesy of Natalie Cozart

Story & photos on page 3

Centennial and Arapahoe County at odds over pot cultivation

City passes resolution opposing plan for unincorporated areas

By Peter Jones Centennial prohibits the cultivation of marijuana within its own borders and now the city has formally opposed Arapahoe County’s initiative to possibly take a different approach. Last week, City Council unanimously approved a resolution against a county proposal that would permit the regulated growing of medical marijuana on larger agricultural properties in unincorporated areas. “Since I have been here, we have never had a [symbolic] resolution for or against anything because we just don’t do that very

often,” Mayor Cathy Noon said before joining the May 19 vote in favor of the resolution. Although several of Noon’s fellow councilmembers expressed similar hesitation about prying into the affairs of a neighboring government, all agreed that their City Council-passed nonbinding initiative would be a worthwhile exception to the rule. “What this [resolution] says is, ‘You guys ought to be ashamed of yourselves and you shouldn’t be doing this,’” said District 2 Councilwoman Doris Truhlar. “Generally, you don’t want to meddle in other governments, but this is crappy. This is in our backyard.” The controversial zoning amendment would allow cultivation of marijuana for personal noncommercial medicinal purposes on agricultural properties of

Generally, you don’t want to meddle in other governments, but this is crappy. - Centennial City Councilwoman Doris Truhlar on county’s proposal

at least 19 acres in unincorporated areas only. All growing would be required to take place out of public view in an enclosed area, such as a greenhouse or other building leased by the landowner to medical patients or caregivers. Although Centennial’s elected officials are concerned about

the effect of the county policy on their own community, their counterparts at the county say the idea is to get at least some marijuana cultivation away from – not closer to – residential neighborhoods. “The main purpose of this is to help get marijuana growth out the urban areas, into an agricultural area. … It could be a fire hazard,” said county Commissioner Nancy Doty, the Centennial resident who chairs the Board of Commissioners. The cultivation would have to be at least 1,000 feet from any church, school, licensed childcare center, park or a residential zone – in other words, nowhere near Centennial’s population centers, according to County Attorney Ron Carl. Continued on page 2


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