At a public hearing hosted by the Pacific City Council at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, city residents once again get to speak their minds on the future of marijuana businesses in the city.
Because while the state may have legalized the recreational sale of marijuana via a voter initiative more than a year ago, how cities deal with pot’s potential pitfalls is still uncharted territory, said Councilmember Clint Steiger.
“At this point right now it’s a real cloudy and vague issue,” Steiger said. “Our small town of 6,000 residents is not prepared to handle any kind of marijuana businesses, whether it’s sales, production or anything else.”
The council is pondering four draft ordinances that would either impose regulations on zoning and licensing of recreational marijuana businesses in the city, ban only medical marijuana or ban all marijuana businesses in the city. The council also has the option of imposing another temporary moratorium to buy more time to hash out the issue.
The first of the ordinances under consideration would add chapter 5.12 to the Pacific Municipal Code, laying out the regulations for licensing recreational businesses in the city, including penalties for violating the proposed code.
The ordinance would work hand-in-hand with the already established Washington State Liquor Control Board’s rules for recreational marijuana businesses and specify where such a business could be located. It directs that businesses be located at least 1,000 feet away from schools, playgrounds, recreational centers, child cares, public parks, public transit centers, libraries or game arcades. It would ban processors, producers or retail recreational pot businesses everywhere except in light-industrially-zoned areas in the Pierce County portion of the city.
Chapter 5.12 of the code would establish security requirements and procedures necessary to deal with any disturbances or unlawful activity.
In addition, the new regulations would require the businesses to control the visibility of activities and the emissions of any odors, smoke, debris, dust, fluids or other substances.
The second proposed ordinance would add a new chapter (20.78) to the City code, requiring recreational pot businesses to obtain licensing from the WSLCB in addition to a City business license and a conditional use permit. The new chapter would reiterate Chapter 5.12’s location restrictions and indemnify the City from any liability regarding the businesses.
The third ordinance, if passed, would add Chapter 20.79 to the City’s municipal code, thus placing an outright ban on any medical marijuana businesses in Pacific.
The ban would prohibit any medical marijuana dispensaries or businesses, including collective medical gardens, until “such time as the City Council has made a finding that the Washington State Legislature has adopted a regulatory and enforcement system for medical marijuana uses that satisfies the enforcement priorities established by the federal government.”
The ban also would encompass delivery of medical marijuana within city limits.
Pacific has four medical marijuana dispensaries operating within its boundaries, all without business licenses.
Another option is for the council to ban all marijuana businesses in the city, recreational or medical.
According to Councilmember Katie Garberding, who served on the City’s Marijuana Uses Advisory Committee as a private citizen this past summer, no pot business is good business for the city.
“I’m totally against it because there are so many people out there that believe marijuana is not an addictive or gateway drug,” Garberding said. “But it is, in my opinion. And there is really no reason for medical marijuana anymore. They can buy it at a recreational store if they need it. (Medical marijuana) is completely unregulated.”
Also a concern for Garberding — marijuana edibles and their potential appeal to children.
“The packaging does not look much different than packaging of gummy worms and other candy that kids would buy in the store,” Garberding said. “I went into one of our two – now it’s four – medical marijuana stores, and it looks to me that they just go to the dollar store and buy prepackaged candy and gummy worms and just infuse them and repackage them.”
In July, City Attorney Carol Morris recommended the following.
“The City Attorney recommends a ban on medical marijuana uses. If the City decides to allow recreational marijuana uses, they should be limited to one zone (that can absorb the most intense secondary land-use impacts) and a licensing ordinance should also be adopted. The City may also decide to ban recreational marijuana uses.”
After the public hearing the city council could vote on the issue as soon as their regularly scheduled Jan. 26 meeting..
