Pueblo County commissioners considering marijuana licensing board

Pueblo County commissioners might soon hand off the job of issuing marijuana and liquor licenses to an appointed licensing board.

During a work session Monday afternoon, commissioners discussed appointing seven people to a board that would be tasked with approving, or rejecting, marijuana and liquor licenses.

If the licensing board were to deny an application, Commissioner Terry Hart wants the applicant to have the option to appeal the decision to county commissioners. But Commissioner Sal Pace disagreed.

“Every single one will come back to us,” Pace said regarding the licenses.

It was Pace who suggested the county adopt a licensing board, citing that many other communities in the state have that model for issuing licenses.

Hart said the makeup of the board would consist of a representation of the entire county.

“We firmly believe that we handle so may other functions at the commissioners’ level, we think this would get a higher level of scrutiny and expertise into reviewing those licenses,” Hart said.

The county attorney plans to study how the licensing board of other jurisdictions operate and bring back more information on what kind of appeals process exists in those bodies.

The county plans to begin advertising for positions on the board.