A moratorium on marijuana businesses in Lewis County was lifted at Mondays commissioners meeting, ending an official ban on the businesses that had been in effect since 2013.
The commissioners voted 2 to 1 to lift the moratorium, which still requires a federal water license for pot businesses to open, effectively creating a new ban that would only be lifted if the federal government allows marijuana operations.
Commissioners Gary Stamper and Edna Fund voted to lift the moratorium, while commissioner Bobby Jackson voted to leave it in place.
I am of the opinion that there are medicinal properties in marijuana, Jackson said before adding, I am still against producing marijuana for recreational purposes.
Stamper also said he had been talking with members of the community about the moratorium.
I appreciate all the citizens that have been here to help organize and craft this, he said.
The concerns led the commissioners to delay a vote on the ordinance when it was presented at a Nov. 14. They prompted five key changes to the ordinance that were approved at Mondays meeting.
Those changes included portions of the ordinance regulating odor control, the number of businesses allowed in the unincorporated portions of the county, advertising, fees and issues related to urban growth areas.
In regard to odor control, county Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Eric Eisenberg said the county included a provision that requires businesses to not allow odor to spread through a community. It was broadly defined, which Eisenberg said gives the Community Development Department greater leeway to craft regulations specific to various areas of the county.
For example, Eisenberg said, a production or processing operation in rural Lewis County, with fewer or no neighbors may have fewer restrictions on what constitutes an odor violation than one located near neighborhoods and businesses in more densely populated areas.
Only five retail businesses and a total of five producers or processors would be allowed within the county, and a restriction barring producers and processors from being located within 2,500 feet of each other was lifted. This distance requirement had been put in place before a set number of producers or processors was established, and the county had previously been concerned about large numbers of these businesses clustering, a worry that was alleviated with limiting the number of businesses allowed, Eisenberg said.
Retail businesses would be limited to one per area code, with the exception of the Chehalis area code, due to it being divided by Interstate 5. The rationale behind this is to spread marijuana businesses into the more rural areas of East Lewis County so residents there would not have to drive into Chehalis or Yakima to buy pot.
Marijuana retail businesses will also be strapped with advertising regulations similar to home businesses, meaning only one sign will be allowed on the exterior, and no additional advertising such as sign wavers or neon lights will be allowed. Off-site advertisement, like that on billboards, is already regulated by Washington state law.
Licensing fees for businesses were increased from $400 to $1,000 in a move to help the county recover costs associated with inspections and code enforcement.
Businesses seeking to locate within urban growth areas will also be subject to the laws of the city or town in which they will be locating instead of coming under county jurisdiction.
The vote ends seven subsequent renewals of a marijuana moratorium, which the commissioners had previously said afforded them time to work through and create a framework for marijuana businesses if federal permits were ever issued.
Washington state voters approved Initiative 502 in the 2012 general election, which legalized the use and sale of recreational marijuana in the state.
Nationwide, eight states and Washington, D.C., have voted to legalize recreational marijuana and more than half of the states in the country have legalized some form of medical marijuana.
U.S. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions has previously stated he does not believe marijuana should be legalized, and it is unclear what implications this stance could have on state or federal level legalization.
While the Obama administration took a largely hands-off approach to state legalization, it also did not reduce the classification of marijuana, which is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin and LSD, meaning it has no recognized medicinal use. This also means marijuana is more harshly classified than methamphetamine, which is a Schedule 2 drug.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Lewis County Ends Marijuana Moratorium, Still Requires Federal Permit For Operation
Author: Aaron Kunkler
Contact: (360) 736-3311
Photo Credit: Pete Caster
Website: The Chronicle
