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Fort Collins staff to pursue stakeholder engagement on marijuana licensing, including hospitality licenses
Summary
City staff will pursue stakeholder engagement to consider adding hospitality/on‑site consumption licenses and to reassess distance restrictions; staff indicated capacity constraints make 2027 the likeliest timeframe for major code changes but may accelerate engagement by pairing with tobacco licensing work.
Cecilia Goode, senior deputy city clerk, briefed council on planned updates to Fort Collins’ marijuana code to increase license types and address restrictive distance provisions that limit business flexibility.
"There's interest in increasing the license types that we have available so we can increase opportunities for new businesses such as hospitality licenses and also in addressing some of the restrictive code sections which create distance restrictions," Goode said. Staff described a stakeholder engagement approach that would include industry representatives and impacted departments (police, city attorney) and noted the same team handles tobacco licensing, which could allow some efficiencies.
In response to a council question about timing, Goode said most work is projected for 2027 because of staff capacity; council members raised a concern that adoption late in 2027 could land at the end of the two‑year priority period and potentially shift the work to a future council if delayed. When asked whether on‑site consumption or a marijuana café concept would be part of the review, Goode said hospitality licenses that allow on‑site consumption would be among the possibilities considered during stakeholder engagement.
