The King County Council approved legislation on a split vote on Monday to refine existing land use regulations on the growth, processing and retail sale of marijuana in unincorporated areas.
The county is presently under a four-month moratorium on the acceptance of applications for or the establishment or location of marijuana producers, processors and retailers in areas outside of cities. The approved ordinance on 5-3 vote will end the moratorium and goes into effect 10 days after receiving signature from Executive Dow Constantine.
Council members Reagan Dunn, Kathy Lambert, Pete von Reichbauer, Claudia Balducci and Dave Upthegrove voted for the ordinance, according to a county media release. Joe McDermott, Rod Dembowski and Larry Gossett were against it. Jeanne Kohl-Welles had an excused absence.
Reactions from the council were split as far as what the new ordinance will do.
“Today’s action improves access and equity in King County’s fledgling marijuana industry, by allowing retail stores in locations throughout King County in areas where it was previously prohibited,” said Balducci, who helped to shepherd the ordinance through debate and final passage, in a media release. “This will provide better access for marijuana patients and customers, while taking pressure off the small unincorporated urban areas like Skyway and White Center that have seen a concentration of multiple stores.
“In addition, the council added a requirement that marijuana retail stores locate at least 1,000 feet apart, which will further limit the increasing concentration of stores in small, lower-income areas of urban King County.”
Dembowski had a different take. He said the action will limit the production, processing and retail of marijuana.
“We adopted zoning for legal marijuana uses two-and-a-half years ago,” he said in a released statement. “Residents have raised some heartfelt concerns about the location of some of these new businesses. I opposed today’s proposal to remove hundreds of thousands of acres of land and to impose new burdens on this budding industry because I believe a lot more work is necessary to fully understand the impacts of the various proposals to change the rules related to marijuana.
“I believe that we need more time and a lot more work to get the zoning rules right in order to ensure that voter-approved I-502 succeeds, that burdens and benefits are equitably shared, in a way that is compatible with surrounding uses, just like any other legal industry.”
McDermott and Gossett released a joint statement:
“The legislation will further concentrate retail marijuana stores in low income and working class neighborhoods, and, more often than not, minority neighborhoods. Reducing the land area where marijuana can be grown and processed coupled with no guaranteed expansion of retail stores will also result in limited access across our county.
“This is particularly concerning for our residents who use medical marijuana to treat numerous ailments like seizures, arthritis and Crohn’s Disease.
“Moving forward, the county must look for ways to ensure adequate access to recreational and medical marijuana. We must also address any unintended consequences this legislation may create. King County residents voted for a workable, legal marijuana system. We must do the work to make this happen.”
State law allows recreational marijuana businesses but counties and cities can regulate or ban the industry through zoning. The city of Kent bans all marijuana businesses.
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