Brighton council advances first reading to regulate ‘natural medicine’ businesses, narrows safe-ride exclusion

Brighton City Council on Oct. 7 approved on first reading amendments to the city’s Land Use and Development Code that define and regulate "natural medicine" uses — including supervised healing centers and cultivation/manufacturing/testing facilities — and amended staff’s draft to remove a clause that would have excluded rideshare services and taxis from acceptable safe-ride options after sessions.

The ordinance change, introduced by Senior Planner Summer McCann and framed as a first reading, creates explicit local categories for natural medicine healing centers (treated like other forms of medical care) and for cultivation/manufacture/testing facilities (treated as industrial uses). The council voted 7 to 1 to advance the first reading after Mayor Pro Tem Padilla successfully moved an amendment to delete language in Section 4.04(J) that would have barred rideshares, taxis and similar services from meeting the requirement that providers “provide proof of a ride home” for participants.

The changes respond to Colorado voter-approved and legislative actions that opened the way for regulated natural-medicine activity statewide. McCann told council that, following state law, Brighton cannot ban the uses outright but may regulate their time, place and manner. “They are not retail. It’s only a service,” McCann said of healing centers, distinguishing supervised treatment from retail marijuana operations. She added that the state issues…