Tucumcari passes cannabis regulation ordinance

A new ordinance to regulate recreational cannabis- and marijuana-based businesses in Tucumcari got a go-ahead Thursday from the Tucumcari City Commission, but the new law is still a work in progress.

Before it receives a final vote for approval from the commission, the ordinance must be published, then undergo a public hearing and final approval from the commission.

The city has a deadline of Sept. 1 for final passage. Otherwise, the state’s recreational cannabis legalization law states, the city must abide by state standards.

At a public work session before the commission’s regular meeting, before a draft of the ordinance was given “first reading” acknowledgement, some changes were discussed.

District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya proposed the new ordinance include zoning some property on the east side of the city as agricultural. The land, about 70 acres, he said, has been used for agriculture though it was zoned for residential use in the 1920s or ‘30s. It was subdivided but never developed for residential use.

The property, Moya said, “could be used for greenhouses” and host cannabis cultivation.

Some landowners there, he said, receive irrigation water from the Arch Hurley Conservancy District.

Also discussed during the work session were distance requirements between cannabis businesses and schools and residential areas.

Mayor Pro Tem Todd Duplantis asked why the ordinance specifies 300 feet of distance between marijuana dispensaries.

City Manager Mark Martinez said that was how the city attorney wrote the regulation, and it could easily be changed.

Moya suggested 100 to 150 feet, and Duplantis said that would be OK.

The draft of the ordinance approved for further action Thursday specifies 300 feet between cannabis businesses, and between such businesses and schools, day-care centers and residential areas.

The state legalization law does not include churches, but it allows leeway on distance regulations to local governments.

Exceptions to distance regulations would be considered individually as zoning variances, Duplantis explained.

The proposed ordinance also imposes architectural standards to ensure cannabis dispensaries maintain the city’s tradition of historic styles from art deco from the 1920s and ‘30s to the “kitsch” style of the 1950s and ‘60s that includes neon lights, a hallmark of Tucumcari’s Route 66 heritage.

In the work session Thursday, Martinez acknowledged the contributions of MainStreet director Connie Loveland and Chamber of Commerce director Scott Crotzer in developing the architectural and design standards.

The standards will ensure that design is “true to Tucumcari,” he said, and “keep it the way it should be.”

Moya said he wanted to ensure shipping containers would not be moved on to properties as temporary cannabis business sites.

The ordinance as proposed would allow marijuana to be consumed within adequately licensed properties but not outdoors or in non-designated areas. Duplantis said air filtration systems would be required in such facilities to ensure odors would not spread to surrounding properties.

Open sewer

Also at the work session, Joseph Marroquin complained that neighbors of his have dug an open sewer line, but city officials have done nothing to correct the situation.

Local environmental health officials, he said, have not acted on the situation, either.

The property owner, Marroquin said, lives in Las Vegas and has not responded.

In addition, he said the neighboring family has not had running water for two years.

Martinez said city ordinances do not cover makeshift sewer lines, so the city has not been able to take action to evict the family.

Second Street

In its regular meeting after the work session, Martinez told the commission the contractor for the problem-plagued Second Street resurfacing project has offered the city an option of a three-year warranty on work completed, or $30,000 immediately to cover existing concerns.

Martinez said he is concerned the asphalt mixture used to pave Second Street’s downtown blocks has a high oil content.

The project has been plagued by missed specifications, wrong colors, concrete problems and damage to neighboring business properties.

Fire insurance

Martinez said the city’s fire insurance ratings have declined, leading to higher insurance rates, due to factors such as response time, water pressure and recruitment of volunteer firefighters.

“It has nothing to do with the current fire chief, the previous chief or fire hydrants,” he said.

Martinez said some had blamed the fact some of the city’s hydrants had been marked based on their condition for the less favorable rating.

He said city officials will try to recruit more firefighters.

In the meantime, he said, “some things are out of our hands. We can only get so many volunteers.”

Other matters

• The commission approved three program funding measures for the Tucumcari Senior Citizens Center. The largest was a contract that will provide $254,727 in federal funds to cover costs of providing meals to seniors, whether in-person, “grab-and-go” meals or home-delivered; $52,932 in American Rescue Act funds to cover costs related to transporting seniors to non-emergency medical appointments out of town; and about $26,000 to buy food grown in the U.S.

• Approved $36,500 in lodger’s tax funding to remodel the Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce building to serve as a welcome area for tourists. Included in the project will be exterior paint, new flooring, new lighting, updated restrooms, a large-capacity water station, coffee service and a new exterior sign for the facility.

• Authorized the city’s Community Development Department to apply for $500,000 in grant funds through the New Mexico Finance Authority for restoration of a concrete water tank on 11th Street, to be matched by $125,000 in local funds.

• Heard Toni Wilson, a resident, complain it took City Police about an hour and a half to respond to a 911 call she made. “I feared for my life,” she said, as well as a neighbor’s. Martinez said the matter “has been addressed.” Moya said the police department is short on staff.

• Approved the appointment to the city’s Library Board of Angela Barreras, Betty Jo Braziel, Mary Elebario, Alfred Johnson and Debi Thomas. “We still need two more volunteers,” Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield said.