McBride said the company envisions issuing temporary access cards to the facility to vendors, which is not allowed. Its transportation plan talks about delivering marijuana to patients and caregivers, but the company is applying for a license in the recreational market — not the medical marijuana program. Its rules regarding manifests and management operations do not comply with state laws.

“I have real concerns about whether this company understands our regulatory structure,” McBride said.

The commission unanimously denied the licenses on the grounds that the company’s proposal is not in compliance with state law, due to problems with its management operations, transportation and security plans.

Typically, commission staff work with applicants to ensure an application is in good shape before bringing it to the full commission at a public meeting. The commission’s rejection of a license that has a staff recommendation is unusual, although not unprecedented.

Commission chairman Steven Hoffman said the commission is making a judgement based on the work done by staff. “This is exactly the way the process does work,” Hoffman said.