Cannabis.
A.
Means all parts of the plant genus Cannabis containing a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
concentration of more than three-tenths percent on a dry weight basis,
whether growing or not; the seeds of the plant; the resin extracted
from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt,
derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or its
resin; and
B.
Does not include:
1.
The mature stalks of the plant; fiber produced from the stalks;
oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant; any other compound,
manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the mature
stalks, fiber, oil or cake; or the sterilized seed of the plant that
is incapable of germination; or
2.
The weight of any other ingredient combined with cannabis products
to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink or another
product.
Cannabis courier.
A person that transports cannabis products to qualified patients,
primary caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to consumers.
Cannabis establishment.
Means:
A.
A cannabis testing laboratory;
E.
A cannabis research laboratory;
F.
A vertically integrated cannabis establishment;
G.
A cannabis producer microbusiness;
H.
An integrated cannabis microbusiness; or
I.
A cannabis consumption area.
Cannabis manufacturer.
A person that:
A.
Manufactures cannabis products;
B.
Packages cannabis products;
C.
Has cannabis products tested by a cannabis testing laboratory;
or purchases, acquires, sells or transports wholesale cannabis products
to other cannabis establishments.
Cannabis producer.
A person that:
A.
Cultivates cannabis plants as a commercial cannabis activity;
B.
Has unprocessed cannabis products tested by a cannabis testing
laboratory;
C.
Transports unprocessed cannabis products only to other cannabis
establishments; or
D.
Sells cannabis products wholesale.
Cannabis product.
A product that is or that contains cannabis or cannabis extract,
including edible or topical products that may also contain other ingredients.
Cannabis research laboratory.
A facility that produces or possesses cannabis products and
all parts of the plant genus Cannabis for the purpose of studying
cannabis cultivation, characteristics or uses.
Cannabis retailer.
A person that sells cannabis products to qualified patients,
primary caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to consumers.
Cannabis testing laboratory.
A facility that samples, collects and tests cannabis products
and transports cannabis products for the purpose of testing.
Commercial cannabis activity.
A.
Means the cultivation, production, possession, manufacture,
storage, testing, researching, labeling, transportation, couriering,
purchase for resale, sale or consignment of cannabis products; and
B.
Does not include activities related only to the medical cannabis
program, to cannabis training and education programs or to the personal
cultivation or use of cannabis.
Consumer.
A person twenty-one years of age or older who purchases,
acquires, owns, possesses or uses a cannabis product for a purpose
other than resale.
County.
The area lying within the corporate boundaries of the County
of Taos and outside the boundaries of any incorporated municipality.
Cultivation.
Any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting,
drying, curing, grading or trimming of cannabis.
Facility.
A building, space or grounds licensed for the production,
possession, testing, manufacturing, or distribution of cannabis, cannabis
extracts or cannabis products.
Government facility.
A facility, agency or area used for public purposes, and
owned or operated by an instrumentality or agency of federal, state
or local government.
Homegrown or homemade.
Grown or made for purposes that are not dependent or conditioned
upon the provision or receipt of financial consideration.
Household.
A housing unit, including any space in or around the housing
unit, at which an occupant of the housing unit produces, manufactures,
keeps or stores homegrown cannabis or homemade cannabis products.
Integrated cannabis microbusiness.
A person that is authorized to conduct one or more of the
following:
A.
Production of cannabis at a single licensed premises, provided
that the person shall not possess more than the number of mature cannabis
plants specified by regulations of the State of New Mexico Regulation
and Licensing Department, Cannabis Control Division at any one time;
B.
Manufacture of cannabis products at a single licensed premises;
C.
Sales and transportation of only cannabis products produced
or manufactured by that person;
D.
Operation of only one retail establishment; and
E.
Couriering of cannabis products to qualified patients, primary
caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to consumers.
Licensed premises.
A location that includes:
A.
All enclosed public and private areas at the location that are
used in the business and includes offices, kitchens, restrooms and
storerooms;
B.
All areas outside and inside of a building that are specifically
included in the license for the production, manufacturing, wholesale
or retail sale of cannabis products; and
C.
A space that is specifically licensed for the production of
cannabis outside of a building or the entire unit of land that is
created by subsection or partition of land that the licensee owns,
leases or has a right to occupy.
Manufacture.
To compound, blend, extract, infuse, package or otherwise
prepare a cannabis product under the following four classes of licensure:
A.
Class I: A licensee that only packages or repackages cannabis
products, or labels or relabels a cannabis product container;
B.
Class II: A licensee that conducts Class I activities, and/or
manufactures edible products or topical products using infusion processes,
or other types of cannabis products other than extracts or concentrates
and does not conduct extractions;
C.
Class III: A licensee that conducts Class I, Class II activities,
and/or extracts using mechanical methods or nonvolatile solvents;
and
D.
Class IV: A licensee that conducts Class I, Class II, and Class
III activities, and/or extracts using volatile solvents or supercritical
CO2.
Medical cannabis.
Cannabis products used by a qualified patient or reciprocal
participant in accordance with the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use
Act.
Medical cannabis registry.
The system by which the Department of Health approves or
denies applications and issues and renews registry identification
cards for qualified patients.
Mobile, portable or temporary unit.
Any motorized or nonmotorized vehicle, trailer, or other
device designed to be portable and not permanently attached to the
ground from which items are ordinarily vended, served, or offered
for sale.
Public place.
A place to which the general public has access, including
hallways, lobbies and other parts of apartment houses and hotels that
do not constitute rooms or apartments designed for actual residence;
highways; streets; schools; places of amusement; parks; playgrounds;
and places used in connection with public passenger transportation.
Qualified patient.
A resident of New Mexico who holds a registry identification
card pursuant to the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.
Reciprocal participant.
A person who is not a resident of New Mexico and who holds
proof of enrollment by a governmental regulatory authority to participate
in the medical cannabis program of another state of the United States,
the District of Columbia or a territory or commonwealth of the United
States in which the person resides or a person who holds proof of
enrollment by a governmental regulatory authority of a New Mexico
Indian nation, tribe or pueblo to participate in its medical cannabis
program.
Retail establishment.
A location at which cannabis products are sold to qualified
patients, primary caregivers and reciprocal participants and directly
to consumers.
Smoke.
To inhale, exhale, burn or carry any lighted or heated device
or pipe or any other lighted or heated cannabis products intended
for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic, in any manner or in
any form, including use of an e-cigarette that creates an aerosol
or vapor.
Town.
Means the Town of Taos, New Mexico.
Unprocessed.
Unaltered from an original, raw or natural state.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 1, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 1, adopted 7/12/2022)
A. Separation.
1. No
cannabis producer or cannabis manufacturer located outside of the
M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone shall be located within
three hundred feet (300') of a residence or the Historic Taos Plaza.
2. No
cannabis establishment located outside of the M-1 “Light Manufacturing”
Zone shall be located within three hundred feet (300') of another
cannabis establishment.
3. There shall be no separation restriction between a cannabis retailer, a cannabis producer, a Class I, Class II and/or Class III cannabis manufacturer, as defined by section
5.24.010, definition of “manufacture” of this chapter, an integrated cannabis microbusiness or a vertically integrated cannabis establishment located within the M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone provided that cannabis retailers shall not be located within three hundred feet (300') of another cannabis retailer.
4. Any
cannabis producer, cannabis manufacturer, integrated cannabis microbusiness
or vertically integrated cannabis establishment shall follow appropriate
industry recognized odor reduction standards.
5. No cannabis establishment engaged in Class IV activities, as defined by section
5.24.010, definition of “manufacture” of this chapter, shall be located within one thousand feet (1,000') of another cannabis establishment, a residence, school and/or daycare.
6. Cannabis
establishments may be co-located.
B. Minimum
separation distance from schools and daycare centers.
A cannabis establishment must maintain a minimum separation distance
of at least three hundred (300') feet from any school or daycare center
that is in existence at the time the cannabis establishment is licensed
by the state.
C. Measurement.
For the purposes of this chapter, distances shall be measured
in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects,
from the nearest point on the property line of the lot on which the
cannabis establishment is located to the nearest point on any property
line of a residence or cannabis establishment.
D. Exception
for subsequent uses of nearby property.
A cannabis establishment,
lawfully operating under this chapter, shall not be deemed to be in
violation of the location restrictions set forth above solely because
a specific use subsequently locates within the minimum required distance
of the cannabis establishment, or when any other lot or tract within
the required minimum distance of the cannabis establishment subsequently
becomes a school or daycare center.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 2, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 2, adopted 7/12/2022)
Cannabis retailers and cannabis consumption areas may only operate
during the following hours:
A. Cannabis
consumption areas.
Products may only be served and consumed
in cannabis consumption areas between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and midnight
Monday through Sunday.
B. Cannabis
retailers.
Cannabis retailers may only sell cannabis
products for off-site consumption between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and
midnight Monday through Sunday.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 3, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 3, adopted 7/12/2022)
Cannabis consumption areas are subject to the following:
A. A cannabis
consumption area in which consumption is limited to consumption by
qualified patients or reciprocal participants may be located inside
any cannabis retailer; provided, however, that smoking of cannabis
products in such consumption areas is only allowed if the cannabis
consumption area occupies a standalone building from which smoke does
not infiltrate other indoor workplaces, or other indoor public places
where smoking is otherwise prohibited pursuant to the Dee Johnson
Clean Indoor Air Act, NMSA 1978, chapter 24, article 16.
B. Cannabis
consumption areas that are open to consumers are also subject to the
following:
1. The
smoking of cannabis products is only allowed within a licensed cannabis
consumption area that occupies a standalone building from which smoke
does not infiltrate other indoor workplaces or other indoor public
places where smoking is otherwise prohibited pursuant to the Dee Johnson
Clean Indoor Air Act, NMSA 1978, chapter 24, article 16; and
2. Access
to cannabis consumption areas open to consumers is restricted to persons
twenty-one years of age and older.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 4, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 4, adopted 7/12/2022)
Any person engaged in commercial cannabis activities must obtain
a town business registration before engaging in such activity.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 5, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 5, adopted 7/12/2022)
Any person seeking to operate a cannabis establishment in the
town may obtain a cannabis establishment permit under the following
conditions:
A. The
permit shall be obtained from the town code administrator.
B. The cost of the initial permit and annual renewal of the permit shall be as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix
A of this code.
C. The
following information shall be required from the applicant for a permit
under this chapter:
1. The
name, address, and business organization of the applicant and location
the applicant intends to transact business, as well as the specific
business to be transacted.
2. If
the applicant is an individual, the mailing address and phone number
of the applicant.
3. If
the applicant is a partnership, the names, mailing addresses, and
phone numbers of all partners.
4. If
the applicant is a limited liability company, the state of organization,
address of the resident agent in New Mexico sufficient for service
of process, the name of the managing member(s) together with mailing
address, and the name, mailing address and phone number of each member
of the company.
5. If
the applicant is a corporation, the state of incorporation, the name,
phone number, and address of the registered agent in New Mexico sufficient
for service of process, and the name, mailing address, and phone number
of each officer or director of the corporation.
6. Prior
to the issuance of a permit, any limited liability company or corporation
shall provide a certificate of good standing.
7. The
applicant shall provide federal and state tax identification numbers.
8. The
applicant shall provide a copy of its permit from the Regulation and
Licensing Division of the State of New Mexico.
D. Prior to issuance of a permit, the code administrator or designee shall confirm compliance with zoning, distancing and fencing requirements provided in section
5.24.020 (Location) and section
5.24.070 (Fencing and security).
E. No permit
shall be issued to a temporary or portable building.
F. No permit
shall be issued to a drive-through cannabis establishment.
G. Failure
to meet the conditions above will result in nonissuance of a permit.
H. If denial
of an application for a new permit or renewal permit is deemed necessary
by the code administrator, written notice of the decision shall be
provided to the applicant.
I. Any person or entity denied a permit may, within ten (10) working days of the receipt of notice of the denial, file an appeal with the governing body of the town. The notice of appeal shall be delivered to the town manager and a hearing shall be scheduled within sixty (60) days of receipt of the notice. The applicant shall follow the appeal procedure outlined below. The appeal application fee shall be as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix
A of this code. The appeal shall be de novo and the burden of proof shall be on the applicant to establish entitlement to a permit. The governing body shall make written findings of fact and conclusions of law supporting its decision. Any further appeal shall be to the district court, in accordance with NMSA 1978, section 39-3-1.1 and rule 1-074 NMRA.
1. Upon
the filing of a notice of appeal, the code administrator, within seven
(7) working days, shall notify the mayor of an appeal from the decision
of the code administrator.
2. The
code administrator or designee shall schedule a public hearing on
the appeal. The public hearing shall be held not less than thirty
(30) days nor more than sixty (60) days after the date upon which
the notice of appeal was filed.
3. Notice
of the public hearing on the appeal shall be published in a newspaper
of general circulation in the county.
4. Notice shall be given to property owners within three hundred feet (300') of the subject property as per section
16.12.040.5 Application procedures.
5. Proof
of notice shall be filed with the code administrator.
6. Failure
to give proper notice or file proper proof thereof, shall cause the
appeal to be withdrawn.
7. Operation
of a cannabis establishment without a permit is a violation of this
chapter.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 6, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 6, adopted 7/12/2022; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)
A. Each
cannabis producer, cannabis research laboratory, and cannabis testing
laboratory is required to erect and maintain a lockable fence of sturdy
construction measuring at least six feet in height enclosing and screening
from view the area where cannabis is located. The enclosure shall
remain securely locked during nonbusiness hours.
B. All
state licensed and permitted facilities engaged in the retail sale,
production, consumption, research, storage or handling of recreational
or medical marijuana shall install and maintain security to include
perimeter entry alarm and video surveillance systems with remote 24-hour
monitoring and shall provide and maintain current information on on-site
systems, security and alarm monitoring and premises contact information
on record (registered) with the town police department and Taos County
E-911 Combined Dispatch.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 7, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 7, adopted 7/12/2022)
Cannabis sales from mobile, portable, or temporary units or
drive-through locations are prohibited.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 8, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 8, adopted 7/12/2022)
Smoking of cannabis products in a public place, except as permitted
by state law, is prohibited.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 9, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 9, adopted 7/12/2022)
Any medical cannabis establishment existing as of the date of the passage of this chapter shall not be required to comply with the location requirements of section
5.24.020. However, the owners of such businesses shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter, submit an application for a cannabis establishment permit.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 10, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 10, adopted 7/12/2022)
A. A cannabis
retailer shall be restricted to the following zones: CBD “Central
Business District” (“CBD”), C-1 “Neighborhood
Commercial” Zone, C-2 “General Commercial” Zone,
HCPD “Highway Corridor Protection District” and M-1 “Light
Manufacturing” Zone.
B. A Class
I, Class II and/or a Class III Cannabis Manufacturer shall be restricted
to the following zones: M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone,
C-1 “Neighborhood Commercial” Zone or C-2 “General
Commercial” Zone.
C. A Class
IV cannabis manufacturer shall be restricted to the M-1 “Light
Manufacturing” Zone.
D. A cannabis
producer shall be restricted to the following zones: M-1 “Light
Manufacturing” Zone, C-1 “Neighborhood Commercial”
Zone or C-2 “General Commercial” Zone.
E. An integrated cannabis microbusiness shall be restricted to the following zones: C-1 “Neighborhood Commercial” Zone, C-2 “General Commercial” Zone, HCPD “Highway Corridor Protection District”, and M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone provided that any integrated cannabis microbusiness located outside the M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone shall limit its activities to those of cannabis establishments outlined in subsections
A.,
B.,
C. and D. of this section.
F. A vertically integrated cannabis establishment shall be restricted to the following zones: M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone, C-1 “Neighborhood Commercial” Zone and the C-2 “General Commercial” Zone provided that any vertically integrated cannabis establishment located outside the M-1 “Light Manufacturing” Zone shall limit its activities to those of cannabis establishments outlined in subsection
C. of this section.
G. Any
licensee under this provision is subject to all provisions of this
chapter.
(Ordinance 21-07, sec. 11, adopted 10/7/2021; Ordinance 22-06, sec. 11, adopted 7/12/2022)