Neighbors Not Happy About Boulder County Pot Facility's Expansion Plans

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A marijuana grow facility in Boulder County has plans to expand ten-fold and some neighbors aren't happy.

The Boulder County Land Use Department has rejected the grow facility's application for now. The owner of The Growing Kitchen, Brooke Wise, has temporarily pulled her application so it can be revised.

Neighbors like John Ritzenthaler have been opposed to the expansion.

"We have a gentleman here who works in high security and he has to have regular security clearances. So he's concerned that he's going to come up testing positive for marijuana because it's in the air; we have no way of knowing if that's a real concern or not," Ritzenthaler said.

The application is long and detailed with many illustrations. But the Boulder County Land Use staff recommended it be denied.

"It was something that wasn't compatible with that neighborhood in that area," said Dale Case, Boulder County Land Use Director. "We had concerns with the amount of water that was going to be necessary to run that type of operation."

The Growing Kitchen plans to resubmit their application removing such controversial plans as a barbed-wire fence. Some neighbors insist the issue is not about marijuana.

"If you were manufacturing teddy bears we would have the same concerns," Ritzenthaler said.

Wise sent CBS4 a statement saying that she is concerned about a "non-proportionate fear" of what they're trying to do with the facility. She said they continue to work within the law to allow the benefit from the plant.