Pitkin County health staff recommend 200-foot buffer for micro "healing centers" near child care; Board asks legal and land‑use follow-up

Pitkin County public health staff on Sept. 2 recommended that the Board of County Commissioners adopt a local rule setting a 200-foot distance between micro healing centers providing supervised psilocybin‑assisted therapy and licensed child care facilities, while maintaining the state’s 1,000‑foot requirement for full “healing centers” and schools.

The recommendation came after the county’s Board of Health earlier voted to propose removing any distance requirement between healing centers and licensed child care centers, while keeping the 1,000‑foot state standard for schools. Kimberly Levin, the county medical officer and emergency physician, told the commissioners she and public health staff had refined that recommendation to apply only to micro healing centers — smaller therapist‑integrated practices — and said 200 feet “would at least give a little bit of breathing room” between a therapy entrance and a child care door.

Why it matters: Colorado’s Natural Medicine rules, enacted after the 2023 legalization of psilocybin for supervised therapeutic use, require healing centers to be at least 1,000 feet from schools and licensed child care facilities. Local governments may regulate time, place and manner but cannot outright ban state‑licensed operators. Commissioners must weigh public‑health protections…