Commission repeals Eddy County business-license ordinance and updates cannabis rules to remove licensing reference

The Eddy County Commission opened two consecutive public hearings and approved an ordinance repealing the county business license ordinance and a companion amendment to the county cannabis ordinance to remove references to the county business license requirement.

At the public hearing on the business-license ordinance repeal, staff explained the repeal followed a commission recommendation and that the ordinance repeal had been recommended unanimously when proposed. No members of the public spoke on the item.

Immediately afterward, the commission opened a public hearing on the cannabis ordinance (O-25-144). Staff said the cannabis ordinance was reprinted from the 2021 version and the only substantive change was removing the county business-license references; paragraphs were renumbered. When Commissioner Carlson asked whether state licenses were still required, staff replied that the state requirements remained and county business-license references were the only items removed.

Both items were approved by motion and roll-call vote. Commissioners recorded in roll calls on these items include Carlson, Trost, Klein, Bowen and Owen.

Why it matters: Repealing the county business-license ordinance removes a county-level licensing step that staff said had been required by the cannabis ordinance. Staff emphasized that state licensing requirements for cannabis activities remain in force.

What the record shows: There were no public commenters on these hearings. Staff described the changes as narrowly focused on removing the local business-license cross-reference and renumbering the ordinance text; no other substantive regulatory changes were proposed in the cannabis ordinance amendment.