[[{“value”:”
Colorado Springs has agreed to remove the ballot question asking voters to repeal the city’s new recreational marijuana ordinance, leaving the industry in place within the city limits for the first time.
El Paso County District Court Judge Hilary Gurney issued an order Thursday afternoon that the city “take all actions necessary to ensure that the Referred Ballot Question does not appear on ballots to avoid disenfranchising and confusing the electorate.”
Gurney had originally issued an injunction against the ballot question on Monday but temporarily stayed the decision as the city pursued an appeal to the Colorado Springs Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declined to take jurisdiction on the case Thursday morning, following a flurry of emergency motions from both the city and the plaintiffs, who had sued to oppose the ballot question.
City spokesman Max D’Onofrio confirmed in a statement that the city would follow the judge’s order. D’Onofrio said ballots will be mailed to military and overseas voters Tuesday without the repeal question.
The actions Thursday are likely the final word on Question 300, the ballot measure voters passed in November that allowed medical marijuana stores to apply for and receive licenses to sell retail marijuana. Measures in support of retail marijuana had failed at the ballot box in previous years in Colorado Springs, most recently in 2022.
John Suthers, the former mayor of Colorado Springs and previous attorney general for Colorado, called the ruling Thursday a “sad day for Colorado Springs.”
“I have been an opponent of recreational marijuana since 2012 (when it became legal in Colorado) and nothing has happened in the state to convince me that I wasn’t right in my opposition. In terms of this particular development, I don’t quite understand it from a legal perspective.”
The City Council voted Jan. 28 to place the repeal on the ballot to clarify and potentially reverse Question 300. Councilmember Dave Donelson, the most vocal proponent of the repeal question, said that voters may have been confused by the phrasing Question 300 used to describe the changes that were being made, and that another public vote should be held to confirm that it approved of recreational sales.
Days after the council vote, medical marijuana business owner Renze Waddington and Adam Gillard, executive director for the El Paso County Progressive Veterans, filed a lawsuit to oppose the ballot question. The plaintiffs argued that the timing for the repeal election and the ballot title approved by the City Council were both inappropriate.
“The city has been willing to do anything and everything to overturn the will of the voters, who overwhelmingly supported Question 300,” Gillard said Thursday. “It’s time for the City Council to move on and start representing their constituents instead of standing in their way.”
Gurney’s decision to remove the ballot question found that the state constitution’s amendment that legalized marijuana in Colorado only allowed votes to prohibit recreational marijuana sales during even-year general elections. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the repeal acted as a prohibition because it would remove the city ordinances that allowed licenses for retail sales to be issued.
Suthers said the judge should have allowed the measure to stay on the ballot to allow the case to continue over a longer period of time. Suthers argued that an appellate court could have ruled to invalidate the results if they agreed with Gurney’s ruling after the election but removing the issue “deprived the city of any effective means to appeal.”
Councilmember Nancy Henjum, who had voted against placing the repeal question on the ballot, said “we need to respect the voice of the voters, and we are.”
“These court rulings are respecting the voice of the voters, whether we personally agree with what they tell us or not.”
Overseas and military ballots had been originally set to be mailed Friday, meeting a city code requirement that they go out 45 days before the April 1 election. Colorado Springs said Wednesday that the continued changes in the lawsuit caused them to miss the deadlines to print ballots that have to be mailed to overseas and military voters.
Medical marijuana businesses can proceed with applying for licenses with the city over the next two months. The November ballot measure requires the city to begin issuing licenses April 10 and the approved businesses can begin selling marijuana April 14.
According to the city’s public permit database, several medical marijuana businesses have started the pre-application process to receive a license later this spring.
In 2022, Colorado Springs voters approved a 5% sales tax for future recreational marijuana sales that would be placed into a dedicated special fund. The tax revenue is required to be spent on public safety, mental health programs and post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans.
Gazette reporter Mackenzie Bodell contributed to this story.
”}]] Colorado Springs agreed Thursday to remove the question repealing the recreational marijuana rules for the city after El Paso County District Court ordered they “take all actions necessary” to drop the question. Read More
