Northglenn council discusses local limits for psilocybin "healing centers"

The Northglenn City Council discussed whether and how to limit local operations of natural-medicine centers that would deliver psilocybin-based services during its Jan. 27 meeting.

City Attorney Hoffman told the council that unlike licensed marijuana businesses, which the city regulates through a local licensing scheme, the city’s authority over natural medicines is narrower and would likely be limited to time, place and manner controls implemented in the zoning code. Hoffman said those options include specifying which commercial or industrial zoning districts would be eligible, imposing distance limitations from sensitive uses, setting hours of operation, and requiring screening and waste-disposal controls.

The issue matters because Colorado’s statewide measure enabling regulated psilocybin services leaves local governments limited tools to shape where and how the services operate; Hoffman said the city had not received formal applications but had one informal inquiry with community development staff. Council members repeatedly asked for measures that would allow regulated access while avoiding de facto exclusion of the city from hosting centers.

Council member Condo asked whether the city needed to overhaul all commercial zoning to prepare; Hoffman replied staff could return with targeted recommendations rather than a sweeping rewrite. Council member Maligni pressed that any rules should make clear centers are permitted in commercial districts and asked whether product would be grown on-site; Hoffman said product and production details are regulated at the state level but the city could regulate local disposal and sewer impacts.

Council member Gough asked about distance buffers similar to those used for marijuana — for example, minimum distances from schools or childcare facilities — and Hoffman said the city can propose concentric distance limits but must ensure those limits do not have the practical effect of excluding the use entirely. Hoffman noted other Colorado communities (for example Douglas County) already have time/place/manner regulations in place.

Several council members said distance limits, hours of operation, and disposal/screening requirements were the types of regulations they would be inclined to consider. No ordinances were introduced or adopted at the meeting; staff were asked to draft potential zoning-language and regulatory options for council review.

During the public-comment period that followed the council discussion, a speaker identifying herself as a natural-wellness practitioner urged council members to distinguish among a wide range of natural-medicine practices — homeopathy, Ayurveda and other therapies — and warned that calling all “natural medicine” by a single label could conflate state-authorized psilocybin therapy with other practitioners.

Next steps: staff will return with draft zoning and time/place/manner language and options for distance limits, hours, screening and disposal controls for council direction and possible ordinance drafting.