Longmont will become the first city in Boulder County to allow on-site use of cannabis after city council voted 4-3 to start licensing hospitality businesses, paving the way for eventual smoking lounges or spas.
Council discussed the issue five times throughout 2024, with a final vote and public hearing on Jan. 28. Another vote will be required to amend Longmont’s code to allow indoor smoking of cannabis, according to staff notes, along with changes to the city’s marijuana regulations. The city’s planning director will decide how to zone hospitality businesses, which will determine possible locations.
On-site consumption has been permitted under state law since 2019, but very few municipalities have adopted their own regulations. There are fewer than 20 such licenses in the state, concentrated in Denver and Aurora, and not all of those businesses are operable.
“It’s not broadly allowed,” Longmont City Clerk Dawn Quintana said.
Boulder’s Cannabis Licensing and Advisory Board in 2023 recommended allowing on-site consumption, but council decided not to discuss the issue.
Two people have expressed interest in setting up cannabis hospitality businesses in Longmont, according to notes shared with council members. One of them, Jordan Person, spoke at the Jan. 28 public hearing. She hopes to start a spa using topical cannabis products such as lotions and massage oils.
“Please vote yes to move this forward so we can have a spa in Longmont,” she said.
Person was one of three speakers at the hearing. She and Ben Owens were in favor of the ordinance which, as Owens put it, “doesn’t ruffle too many feathers but also moves the city forward in a progressive way.”
Terry Medearis and Steve Altschuler — whom Mayor Joan Peck allowed to speak although they had not signed up for the public hearing — were opposed, citing conversations with Longmont police officers linking substance use and crime.
“I do not want to encourage anything that promotes any sort of drug use,” Medearis said.
Longmont will allow only four hospitality businesses, echoing its cap on the number of retail establishments. Though, as Peck noted, the city also has dispensaries in county enclaves.
“Why I’m opposed to that is this is adding the ability to get four more” cannabis businesses in Longmont, Peck said. “I just think that’s too many for our city.”
Diane Crist and newly appointed council member Matthew Popkin joined Peck in voting against allowing hospitality licenses.
Based on past council feedback, local applicants will be given preference, but staff cautioned that Longmont could not require license holders to be residents of the city.
Hospitality businesses can be open later than dispensaries, operating from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Dispensaries must close at 10 p.m.) Outdoor consumption will not be allowed, and hospitality establishments can’t co-locate with restaurants, according to city regulations.
Longmont is not allowing mobile hospitality businesses, such as party buses. Two types of businesses will be allowed by the license: those selling cannabis to be consumed on site and those that allow patrons to bring their own.
During discussion, Popkin asked if staff or council had studied “any fiscal impacts from this on the city in terms of code enforcement, law enforcement [and] public safety resources.”
“We did reach out to our counterparts in other departments to get their feedback,” Quintana said, “and didn’t get any decisively negative feedback.”
Denver’s newest smoking lounge, Cirrus Social Club, is set to open in March. There are already 5,000 people on the waiting list, owners told The Denver Post.