A total of 21 store licenses have been awarded to Aurora, Colorado’s first retail marijuana establishments. The stores may begin operating Oct. 1.

Licenses will be issued to the following applicants (all names are “doing business as,” or DBA):

• Ward I: 3LP LLC, 1401 Peoria St.; The Green Solution, 1450 Havana St.; Starbuds, 1408 Del Mar Parkway, Unit B2; and Altitude Aurora, 10455 E. Colfax Ave.

• Ward II: Terrapin Care Station, 11900 E. 33rd Ave.; 3LP LLC, 6403 N. Jackson Gap St.; The Green Solution, 14301 E. Colfax Ave.; Mountain States Group, LLC, 719 Billings St.

• Ward III: Terrapin Care Station, 11091 E Mississippi Ave, Suite B; Lightshade, 503 Havana St.; The Green Solution, 350 S. Potomac St.; Sweet Leaf, 15200 E. Sixth Ave., Unit 1

• Ward IV: The Green Solution, 3179 S. Peoria Court; Medicine Man Aurora, 1901 S. Havana St.; Rocky Road Aurora, 2224 S. Fraser St., Unit 6; Colorado Harvest Company, 11002 E. Yale Ave.

• Ward V: Lightshade, 5380 S. Parker Road; Good Chemistry, 16840 E. Iliff Ave.; Euflora, 4343 S. Buckley Road; Colorado Harvest Company, 14655 E. Arapahoe Road

• Ward VI: Euflora, 6260 S. Gun Club Road

Applicants submitted applications to the city of Aurora—along with the state—during the month of July. Each applicant attended a mandatory pre-licensing meeting in Aurora to provide the applicant with an overview of the licensing process. The city received a total of 58 applications for 24 available licenses. Only two applicants applied for licenses in Ward VI, one of whom dropped out prior to licenses being awarded.

To be included in the scoring process, applicants were required to meet minimum qualifications related to industry experience, criminal background, financial liquidity, staffing, security, air quality filtration, business and operating requirements, and fee payments, according to city ordinance. A point system was used for those applicants who exceeded the minimum qualifications in areas such as industry experience and security. Subject matter experts scored the business and operating categories through an independent evaluation process.

The city of Aurora will begin accepting applications again Sept. 2 for the remaining three licenses in Ward VI. Applications will be accepted through mid-October.

For more information, contact the Aurora Marijuana Enforcement Division (AMED) at 303-739-7833 or marijuana@auroragov.org.

SOURCE: auroragov