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Mead trustees continue public hearing on natural medicine business rules to April 14, 2025
Summary
Trustees continued a public hearing on draft land‑use rules for natural medicine businesses after extended questioning about downtown mixed‑use (DMU), residential impacts and whether the town can limit state‑licensed uses. Staff will hold a work session and return with zoning maps and options.
The Mead Board of Trustees voted Jan. 27 to continue a public hearing on proposed land‑use regulations for ‘‘natural medicine’’ businesses to April 14, 2025, after trustees and residents raised questions about where Healing Centers and other natural medicine businesses would be allowed and how the rules would affect homes in downtown mixed‑use areas.
Community Development Director Jason Bradford told the board the draft amendment, prepared after Colorado voters passed Proposition 122 and the legislature enacted Senate Bill 23‑290, creates two land‑use categories: Healing Centers (treated like counseling centers) and other natural medicine businesses (manufacturing, testing and related uses), with state licensing and a baseline 1,000‑foot separation from schools, childcare, residences and parks. “The proposed regulations are consistent with the state regulations,” Bradford said during his presentation.
Trustees pressed staff and the town attorney about practical outcomes if a state‑licensed Healing Center or manufacturer located near residences in the downtown mixed‑use (DMU) district. Several trustees and residents said DMU includes many existing homes and that allowing Healing Centers there could place facilities close to private residences. Trustee Crane said a Healing Center “could be right next to my house” and described that outcome as “seriously screwed up,” reflecting a broader concern among trustees about neighborhood impacts.
Legal counsel and staff said the town cannot ban a use the state permits but can adopt time‑place‑and‑manner restrictions and make code changes (with care to avoid creating legal nonconforming uses). The state began accepting license applications earlier in January, staff said, but as of the board meeting there were no known applicants in Mead. Counsel said the District Attorney’s Office handles alleged criminal conduct; zoning and local compliance questions are handled by the town.
Trustees agreed they needed more time and additional materials — including a zoning map of the DMU boundaries and options for whether counseling centers and Healing Centers should remain permitted in DMU — and directed staff to prepare a work session and revised materials. The board unanimously approved a motion to continue the hearing to April 14, 2025.
The next procedural step is a staff work session to answer trustees’ questions and to present zoning map options; the public hearing will reopen at the continued date for further public comment and potential final action.
