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AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 5-41001 OF THE COMMERCE CITY REVISED MUNICIPAL CODE ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE 2009 INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE
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Summary and Background Information: The Building Safety Division and South Adams County Fire District's involvement with development of the City's marijuana licensing process and associated research into processes developed by other local governments revealed the need for changes to the City's adopted building and fire codes. The proposed changes are intended to address hazards associated with in-door cultivation, manufacture, extraction, testing processes and retail sales as well as similar processes for hemp operations. Because development of marijuana laws in Colorado are isolated to this state and the methods and processes are relatively new concepts sometimes involving hazardous operations and materials and because internationally developed building and fire codes do not address the hazards associated with in-door operations, many Colorado local governments have amended their building and fire codes establishing base line regulations designed to specifically address potential hazards. A summary of the proposed changes include:
All marijuana and hemp related businesses must do the following at the time of application for building permit with the Building Safety Division and South Adams Fire District:
· Complete plans describing the methods and processes used for any extraction and testing processes
· A report prepared by a qualified third party industrial hygienist indicating the proposed building improvements will adequately protect the facility and adjacent properties and persons
· A complete list of hazardous materials stored or used in any processes along with quantities, storage locations and how they will be used in various processes.
· A requirement that marijuana or hemp businesses be physically separated from any other business/occupancy in a multi-tenant building by one-hour, fire-resistive rated fire barriers (a fire barrier is a fire resistive rated wall that extends from foundation or slab to roof and/or horizontal separation from exterior wall to exterior wall or a combination of both to provide a complete fire-resistive separation).
Upon conferring with other local government fire and building departments, touring facilities and examining other's regulations, the South Adams County Fire District and Building Safety Division met to discuss possible changes and have concluded these are necessary for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Commerce City.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Chris Cramer
Staff Member Presenting: Patrick Buckley
Suggested Motion: I move to approve Ordinance 2053