Glenwood Springs’ special election on extending marijuana business hours to 10 p.m. is off again.

After stepping down as mayor, Councilor Jonathan Godes motioned once again during Thursday’s regular City Council meeting to pass later marijuana business hours.

The matter was put on the agenda to formally set a date for the election, and Godes decided to take one last crack at making a motion to pass it with the newly elected council members — Erin Zalinski, Sumner Schachter and Mitchel Weimer — having been sworn in.

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For background, the reason the decision has been so hard for the councilors to make is because of how the proposed new city ordinance amendment was written. 

Since the petition submitted by a local dispensary owner stated specifically keeping dispensaries throughout Glenwood Springs open until 10 p.m., there was no wiggle room for City Council to make any amendments. It also set the ordinance to stick for at least six months before council could amend it. 

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Most councilors sounded open to allowing later hours, but 10 p.m. seemed too late for both the former council members and the new ones, as stated by outgoing councilor Tony Hershey in a recent letter to the editor. 

New Councilor Schachter immediately tried to see if there was a way to look at zoning so it didn’t affect residential areas, but City Attorney Karl Hanlon advised against it based on legalities.

This doesn’t mean the decision is completely over. Council will hold two special meetings and will have to have a second reading of the change with a favorable vote. 

If it passes on the second reading, then it will allow dispensaries to stay open until 10 p.m. without any amendments for six, or now five months. 

“I think with the motion, if it doesn’t work in five months then we can put it on the ballot,” Hanlon said. 

Post Independent reporter Cassandra Ballard can be reached at cballard@postindependent.com or 970-384-9131.