(DailyCamera) A Boulder-based maker of the state's most popular marijuana-infused edible is planning to leave the city after the forced annexation of his and several other properties raised regulatory costs by tens of thousands of dollars and created feelings of ill will between city staff and business owners. Americanna owner Dan Anglin said he intends to move the company out of the city as soon as possible. "I'd like to find a piece of property that's so far from Boulder they can't come get me," he said. But first, Anglin and six other business owners will have to undergo a new city application process to continue growing, manufacturing and selling pot products.
Under Colorado law, state licensure is contingent on approval by the local government within whose boundaries they operate.
Prior to the annexation, the properties along 55th Street and Arapahoe Avenue in east Boulder were under county jurisdiction. Even though Anglin is moving his business, to maximize the value of his existing licenses, they must be approved and paid for through the city of Boulder. Council voted Nov. 1 to bring that enclave into city limits, a bid tostrengthen Boulder's attemptat creating a municipal utility, over the objections of the business owners. Pot-related enterprises had been operating in the area for several years, but instead of the city of Boulder allowing them to apply for renewal of their marijuana licenses, it is requiring them to apply as new businesses — at a substantially higher cost. Americanna will pay $41,850 in application fees in 2017, doled out over three installments throughout the year, in addition to an as-yet undetermined per-plant fee. That is substantially more than the $11,900 the company budgeted for Boulder County license renewal fees in the current calendar year.
