Lafayette`s new rules, which passed unanimously but require one more final vote, will restrict medical marijuana centers to a 78-acre district that primarily lies along South Boulder Road, between South Public Road and U.S. 287.

No dispensaries are permitted within 1,000 feet of schools, hospitals or other medical marijuana centers; within 500 feet of residential areas and day-care centers; or within 800 feet of U.S. 287 and Colo. 7.

And no more than five lots containing infused product manufacturing or marijuana growing operations are allowed in an industrial area in the southeast part of the city.

After the vote, Lafayette Mayor Frank Phillips congratulated city staff members for crafting and refining a set of rules that he said had the potential to be "divisive."

"We have managed to produce something that is reasonable," he said.

Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000, and state law allows municipalities to set their own regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries, infused products manufacturers and grow facilities.

Stephen Kracha, Lafayette's newest councilman, questioned whether a stipulation in the ordinance that sets an 800-foot buffer around U.S. 287 is a good idea.

City Administrator Gary Klaphake said the highway was put off-limits because Lafayette wants corporations to locate there, and many are from states where medical marijuana is an unfamiliar topic. He said allowing dispensaries in that commercial zone could give prospective businesses an obvious reason to look elsewhere.

"In order to compete, it shouldn't happen on that corridor," he said.

But Kracha said Ka-Tet, which is housed in a commercial building at the corner of Baseline Road and U.S. 287, is discreet with its signage.

LAFAYETTE -- For those wanting to sell medical marijuana in this city, opportunity looks like a swath of mostly vacant land on the south side of town where nondescript office buildings mingle with aging strip malls.

Lafayette's proposed medical marijuana district could be on the way to becoming a reality, with the City Council set to vote on new medical Tuesday. But will dispensaries be welcome here?

Reaction from those already running businesses in this 75-acre zone seems to run the gamut from indifference to staunch opposition.

Lafayette, which is in the midst of crafting rules for medical marijuana centers, has touched off consternation among industry advocates as it tries to figure out where to allow the facilities.

LAFAYETTE -- The City Council loosened some regulations in its proposed medical marijuana ordinance Tuesday night -- allowing dispensaries to stay open an extra two hours and permitting up to a dozen plants per household -- as it entered the homestretch in its regulatory process.

But the heart of the regulations -- limiting medical marijuana centers to a 75-acre district on the south side of town and a 3-acre parcel near 119th Street -- was left unchanged.

The council unanimously approved the regulations on a first reading and is scheduled to make a final vote March 29.

The zoning restrictions, which place dispensary-free buffers around schools, hospitals, day-care centers and highway corridors, would force Lafayette's two existing pot shops to move.