Defined terms.
Denver Revised Municipal Code § 6-204
in effectSec. 6-204. - Defined terms.
Except as provided below, the definitions set forth in subsection 16(2) of article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution and the definitions set forth in the Colorado Marijuana Code shall apply equally to this article V. In addition, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them:
(1) Advertise, advertising, or advertisement means the act of drawing the public's attention to a medical or retail marijuana business in order to promote the sale of cannabis by a medical or retail marijuana business or consumption of marijuana in a marijuana business.
(2) Alcohol or drug treatment facility means any treatment facility, located within the city and licensed or approved by the state office of behavioral health in the department of human services, as provided in Articles 80, 81, and 82 of Title 27 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended.
(3) Applicant means any person applying for a medical or retail marijuana business license, including a social equity applicant.
(4) Cannabis means regulated marijuana, industrial hemp, and industrial hemp product.
(5) Child care establishment means any child care establishment as defined by and regulated under chapter 11 of this Code.
(6) Colorado Marijuana Code means Article 10 of Title 44 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended, and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(7) Common ownership means two (2) or more licenses that share at least one (1) person that holds an ownership interest in each license.
(8) Consumer goods means goods primarily used for personal, family, or household purposes, but does not include vehicles.
(9) Continuous operation means that the regular sale of medical marijuana has occurred at the subject location without interruption by a medical marijuana store. Continuous operations shall be deemed to have ceased if any of the following occur:
a. The sale of marijuana at the subject location has suspended or ceased for a period longer than ninety (90) consecutive days, unless the suspension or cessation was due to factors outside of the licensee's control as determined by the director; or
b. The subject location is owned, leased, or otherwise occupied for a use other than the sale of marijuana; or
c. The state or local medical marijuana center or store license issued for the subject location has expired, is not renewed, is surrendered, changes location, or is revoked.
(10) Department means the department of licensing and consumer protection.
(11) Licensee or permittee means any person holding a valid medical or retail marijuana business license or permit issued by the department.
(12) Location means a structure(s) or building(s) identified by a distinct street address assigned by the city in accordance with article IV of chapter 49 of this Code. To the extent the structure(s) or building(s) consists of separately described "units," "suites," "rooms," "buildings," or other similar subdivisions, the structure(s) or building(s) shall nevertheless be counted as one (1) location.
(13) Manager means the manager of licensing and consumer protection.
(14) Neighborhood of undue concentration of cultivation facility locations means the five (5) statistical neighborhoods where the highest number of licensed medical and retail marijuana cultivation facility locations exist, as calculated no more than ninety (90) days after the effective date of this article V for 2021, and by December 31 of each year thereafter. To the extent there is a tie between two (2) or more statistical neighborhoods with the statistical neighborhood having the fifth most licensed locations, then all such neighborhoods shall be treated as neighborhoods of undue concentration of cultivation facility locations.
(15) Neighborhood of undue concentration of marijuana store locations means the five (5) statistical neighborhoods where the highest number of licensed medical and retail marijuana store locations exist, as calculated no more than ninety (90) days after the effective date of this article V for 2021, and by December 31 of each year thereafter. To the extent there is a tie between two (2) or more statistical neighborhoods with the statistical neighborhood having the fifth most licensed locations, then all such neighborhoods shall be treated as neighborhoods of undue concentration of marijuana store locations.
(16) Party in interest means any of the following:
a. The applicant;
b. An adult resident of the neighborhood under consideration;
c. The owner or manager of a business located in the neighborhood under consideration;
d. An authorized representative of a registered neighborhood organization that encompasses all or part of the neighborhood under consideration; or
e. Any member of city council elected from a district that encompasses all or any part of the neighborhood under consideration.
(17) Person means any firm, corporation, association, or other organization acting as a group or unit as well as a natural person. It shall also include an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver, or other representative appointed according to law.
(18) Private residence includes, but is not limited to, a private premises where a person lives such as a private dwelling, a place of habitation, a house, a multi-dwelling unit for residential occupants, or an apartment unit. Private residence does not include any premises located at a school, on the campus of an institution of higher education, public property, alcohol or drug treatment facility, or any commercial property unit including, but not limited to, offices or retail space.
(19) Safe means a metal box capable of being locked securely, constructed in a manner to prevent opening by human or mechanical force, or through the use of common tools, including, but not limited to, hammers, bolt cutters, crow bars or pry bars.
(20) School means a public or private preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, or high school.
(21) Smoking shall have the same meaning as set forth in C.R.S. § 25-14-203, as amended.
(22) Social equity applicant means a person applying for a new marijuana business license, or being transferred a marijuana business license, who holds a valid finding of suitability as a social equity licensee from the state licensing authority.
(23) Statistical neighborhood means the geographical neighborhood boundaries established by the City and County of Denver in 1970 in conjunction with the Community Renewal Program.
(Ord. No. 216-21, § 2, 4-19-21; Ord. No. 217-21, § 1, 4-19-21; Ord. No. 500-25, § 1, 5-5-25; Ord. No. 1003-25, § 3, 7-28-25)
Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH6ALCANAME_ARTVDEMACO_S6-204DETEFetched: 10/27/2026