Pueblo County planning staff told the Board of County Commissioners on Thursday that the local marijuana industry is contracting, with more license surrenders and expirations than renewals, and outlined a menu of potential regulatory changes the county could pursue to reduce paperwork and improve enforcement.

"We are seeing decreases. The industry is in trouble," Kyle Aber, deputy director for liquor and marijuana licensing in Pueblo County Planning and Development, told the board. Aber presented quarterly data showing fewer renewals, fewer change‑of‑ownership and location requests, and a modest number of new licenses since late 2024 when the county again allowed new applications in certain categories.

Aber said the county had seen 11 new licenses in the period after the county allowed limited new issuances, but that surrenders and expirations remain notable. "A surrender is when a business says, we're done," Aber said, explaining the difference between voluntary surrenders and license expirations.

Staff and commissioners discussed market pressures behind the trend. Aber pointed to low wholesale prices in Colorado relative to other states and to competition from federally legal hemp products that can be processed into psychoactive compounds outside the marijuana regulatory system. "Colorado can't make money the way, you know, D.C. or Illinois does, at least our businesses can't," Aber said, adding that hemp products benefit from federal agricultural programs and different tax/tariff environments.

Aber outlined several near‑term administrative changes Planning and Development may pursue: allowing flexibility in license expiration dates to align renewals, establishing reinspection fees for follow‑up compliance checks, permitting new licenses at locations that were not previously licensed, reconsidering the county cap on certain license types, requiring a business‑operator license for third‑party operators, and moving some licensing decisions from the county board to an administrative/hearing‑officer model to shorten timelines.

"We would cut out everything that wasn't statutorily required to have a hearing. Everything else would be decided by the planning and development department with the option to appeal," Aber said of an administrative approach. He noted pros and cons, including loss of board‑level public input versus faster decisions and greater efficiency.

No formal policy changes were approved at the meeting; Aber said staff would return with formal proposals if the commissioners want to pursue any of the items.

The presentation also covered enforcement topics: abandoned or idled greenhouses and the county’s continuing effort to recover tax base where possible. Aber noted limits to county authority on hemp regulation and said state and federal law create compliance and enforcement challenges for the marijuana industry in Pueblo County.