Dozen cannabis applications filed in city

More than a dozen cannabis business applications for the Tucumcari area have been filed with the city or state so far as the legal sale of recreational marijuana in New Mexico is set to begin as soon as early spring.

Through an open-records request, the Quay County Sun received copies of six commercial cannabis business applications filed with the City of Tucumcari. More cannabis applications in the Tucumcari area also are listed on the website of the Cannabis Control Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. The state must approve each application before retail sales or production of cannabis can begin.

So far, the only applications filed for cannabis businesses in Quay County have been in the Tucumcari area. No applications have been filed in Logan, San Jon, Endee, House or anywhere else in the county. That's despite several settlements' closer proximity to Texas, which is believed to be a big market for legal weed sales in New Mexico.

Nearly all the applications for cannabis establishments in the Tucumcari area involve shuttered business fronts or undeveloped land.

The applications also are not concentrated in any one area of the city. Tucumcari's primary arteries - Tucumcari Boulevard (aka Route 66), Main Street, First Street and South Mountain Road - each have at least one applicant on them or nearby.

Here is information on the applications for cannabis businesses filed at the City of Tucumcari so far:

• 3023 S. First St. Proposed business name: Bud's and More Dispensary. Applicants: Leif or Anjelica Gray of Tucumcari. Anticipated number of employees: three. City application type: commercial (listed as a cannabis retail dispensary). State application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

The location is in a former Quality Lube and Tire shop, located just south of the First Street ramps to and from Interstate 40. (A second location for Quality Lube and Tire continues to operate on Tucumcari Boulevard.) Anjelica Gray is Tucumcari's city clerk.

• 301 W. Tucumcari Blvd. Proposed business name: Conchas River Company. Applicant: Ralph Moya of Tucumcari. Anticipated number of employees: pending. City application type: commercial (listed as a cannabis dispensary). State application type: none so far.

The location was formerly the Hitching Post Cocktail Lounge and more recently was the site of a heating and air conditioning contractor. Moya is a city commissioner.

• 113 S. Second St. Proposed business name: Downtown Dispensary Tucumcari. Applicant: Al Patel of Tucumcari. Anticipated number of employees: three. City application type: commercial (listed as a retail recreational cannabis). State application type: none so far.

The location was the former location of Sarah's Furniture, which moved a short distance to a bigger space on South First Street. Patel owns the Desert Inn motel on South First Street near I-40 and the 66 Outlaw apparel store next door to his proposed cannabis shop. Patel also serves on the city's Lodgers Tax Advisory Board.

When asked by email what prompted him to apply for a cannabis license, Patel replied: "The goal for me is to revitalize downtown area. Reinvest."

• 3900 E. Tucumcari Blvd. Proposed business name: Route 66 Potland. Applicant: Yvette Kent of Tucumcari. City application type: commercial (listed as retail, CDB and hookah patio lounge; it also states she intends to file for courier and vertical integration growsite licenses). Anticipated number of employees: three. State application type: cannabis producer and cannabis producer microbusiness.

The location is a closed Fast Stop convenience store and remains the easternmost cannabis application in the city.

Kent, a Tucumcari native, stated she was encouraged by her mother eight years ago to launch a cannabis business.

"My Mother always told me I would one day bring our minority community Black/Hispanic/Indian heritage to the forefront of economic growth and development," Kent wrote in an email. "The cannabis industry is lacking for minority participation and also has a stronghold on the legal system that does not provide the avenues for our cultures to adequately incorporate into the business.

"I am working toward training and educating our people then allowing them the opportunity to get into the industry to work and thrive."

• 912 E. Route 66 Blvd. (aka Tucumcari Boulevard). Proposed business name: Puff on 66. Applicant: Michael Hicklin of Tucumcari. Anticipated number of employees: six or seven. City application type: commercial (listed as cannabis dispensary). State application type: none so far.

The location is a site of a former Verizon Wireless store and more recently was used for flea markets.

• 915 E. Main St. Proposed business name: Bud In Bud Out. Applicant: Abel Vargas of Tucumcari. Anticipated number of employees: two. City application type: commercial (listed as retail cannabis and courier). State application type: Cannabis producer microbusiness.

The location is the former Myrtle's Custom Upholstery store.

• Unlisted block of South Mountain Road. Proposed business name: Taos 420 Cannabis & Coffee. Applicant: Lorene Cino Gonzalez of Taos. Anticipated number of employees: to be determined. City application type: commercial (listed as cannabis retail). State application type: none so far.

Gonzalez didn't list a street address for his proposed business but legal description of a tract instead. Quay County Assessor Janie Hoffman said the description matches land north of the Fairfield Inn hotel on South Mountain Road. City Clerk Anjelica Gray also confirmed the site is on South Mountain Road. Gray also said during an earlier city commission meeting a South Mountain Road applicant planned to commit $2 million to the project.

The following are applicants listed on the Cannabis Control Division website but with no City of Tucumcari application:

• 1808 S. First St. Proposed business name: Route 66 Buds. Applicant: Jill Gregory. Application type: cannabis retailer.

• 6723 Quay Road AR. Proposed business name: Wizard. Applicant: none listed. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

• 3404 E. Route 66 Blvd. Proposed business name: Greengem. Applicant: Kyla Towery. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

• 1110 S. Fourth St. Proposed business name: Dunlap Exotics. Applicant: none listed. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

• 923 S. Seventh St. Proposed business name: Tookum Cooperative. Applicant: none listed. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

• 3650 Quay Road 64. Proposed business name: Sugar Leaves. Applicant: none listed. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

• 3530 Route 66. Proposed business name: Got-Cha Covered. Applicant: none listed. Application type: cannabis producer microbusiness.

At a city commission meeting in October, Albuquerque attorney Jason Alarid said he was representing someone interested in converting a vacant building at 901 W. Route 66 Blvd. to a marijuana dispensary and production facility with art deco architecture and possibly an "old school" diner. However, no such application has been filed at the city or state so far.