The Roswell City Council recently approved the sale of recreational cannabis by two companies.
Pecos Valley Productions and Ultra Health were granted permits and zoning variances after two 7-to-2 votes during a meeting last week, according to KOB 4.
“We had two companies yesterday that were approved under the current ordinance; they went through the process,” Jason Perry, a council member for Ward 2, told KOB 4. “The process went very well.”
Both companies have operated medical cannabis dispensaries within the city for years and want to also sell recreational products. The sale of recreational cannabis has been legal in the state since April 1, but no authorized permits had been issued in Roswell until last week’s vote, KOB 4 reported. Several other applicants are waiting to receive approval from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission before a council vote occurs.
“The reason we are here is we want to sell adult-use cannabis at our current location,” Leonard Salgado, director of business development and expansion for Pecos Valley Productions, told Mayor Tim Jennings and the council, according to KOB 4.
The meeting also featured a public hearing on several proposed revisions to city rules regarding cannabis. The revisions included streamlining the zoning process for existing medical dispensaries to transition into recreational sales. Also discussed was a controversial move to ban on-site cannabis consumption areas from businesses within the boundaries of the city, altering hours of operation for all cannabis dispensaries, and prohibiting sales on Sunday.
Jesse Hunt of R. Greenleaf, a medical dispensary in Roswell, told the council prohibiting Sunday sales could impact patients.
“One of the things that is very important is that we have Sunday sales available because we are serving patients and they are used to those hours and we don’t want to get rid of them,” Hunt said, according to KOB 4.
Ultimately, a motion to adopt the changes to the city’s cannabis ordinance did not pass.