King County Council to take up marijuana regulations Monday
Just out of the WCN inbox:
WHAT: The Metropolitan King County Council will hear public testimony and possibly act on legislation impacting zoning for the production, processing, and sale of legal marijuana in unincorporated King County.
WHERE: King County Courthouse, 10th floor, 516 Third Ave, Seattle 98104.
WHEN: Monday, July 25th, 1:30 p.m.
BACKGROUND: In 2013, the King County Council adopted initial zoning regulations governing the production, processing and sale of legalized marijuana in unincorporated King County. Since adoption of these initial zoning regulations, King County has received and processed numerous applications for marijuana-related land uses.
Some residents have expressed concerns regarding the existing regulations for marijuana production, processing and retailing. In order to review these concerns in rural areas, as well as consider an Executive proposal to regulate clustering of retail locations, the King County Council voted to pass a four-month moratorium on the acceptance of applications for or the establishment or location of new marijuana producers, processors and retailers on April 25, 2016.
After two special meetings of the Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee, Councilmembers are scheduled to discuss and possibly act on two ordinances, 2016-0236 and 2016-0254, that would amend current marijuana regulations in unincorporated King County.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
July 23rd, 2016 at 7:03 pm
What happen in white center last nite or this morning . hell white center is boast town no homeless or anyone ?
July 27th, 2016 at 9:31 pm
In case you are wondering what the outcome at the King County Council meeting was –
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/race-and-pot-in-king-county/
July 29th, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Very complicated day and night – I was only able to watch a few hours of the hearing, and that was mostly dominated by the Redmond Ridge people, though I saw you and Liz speak. Writing about it here once we actually get a handle on what happens next. Various county councilmembers sent out “press releases” but they were all like the old saga of the blind person and the elephant – each only addressed a certain part of the action.
July 30th, 2016 at 5:55 am
Yes now some of people from skyway think that King county and the WSCLB are racist and that’s why the unincorporated areas have more pot shops than the city’s in the area.
This has got to to be the most ridiculous claim of racism in the past month. Since the city’s have worked with WSCLB to make allotted amounts of pot shops for the different city and most have there allotted amounts already filled. So if your interested in starting a pot shop then your best bet is to go to the unincorporated areas that don’t have allotted amount of stores.
Now I read a letter to the editor on a local blog from a mark Johnston of skyway and he seems to think that only African-American and Asian Americans are the only ones that will purchase and consume cannabis from these pot shops. That these groups have no self control and the county and WSCLB are racist for allowing these stores n low poverty area’s.
Which seems to me like a odd argument since when I shop at nimbin pot shop it’s 60 to 80% white people shopping there. Now I have seen allsorts of race and backgrounds shopping there to now I realize this is just one store but I am guessing the clientele is similar at other locations.
But then again we in a day and age where some people feel if they don’t get there way they can claim racism. Some of same people think if they break a law and the police officer that arrested them is a different race than them then oh the officer is racist. Yes there is racist pieces of sh** in life but I for one don’t think that king county or WSCLB is one of them.
July 31st, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Err … Jimmy, I’m certainly a person that can speak for myself. And I can think of no one that speaks less for me than you do. I can only suggest that you read the editorial that Barbara linked for evidence that others are also expressing concern about the seeming two-tiered system of community justice in King County government.
July 31st, 2016 at 6:17 pm
King County has put the full text of Ordinance 18326 online. Regarding retail marijuana policy in unincorporated King County, the first order of business appears to be for the county to do a study to identify up to 2 parcels in each of up to 5 King County Council districts that have Neighborhood Business zones suitable for retail marijuana stores:
“It is the intent of the council to find additional appropriate locations for marijuana retail stores, especially to serve medical marijuana patients. As such, the executive shall transmit a report that analyzes the potential for allowing marijuana uses in Neighborhood Business (NB) [zones] … The report and a proposed ordinance allowing marijuana retail uses in ten existing NB-zoned areas, along with appropriate development conditions shall be transmitted to the council by December 31, 2016. The proposed ordinance shall allow marijuana retail uses in no more than two NB-zoned areas per council district. The report and the proposed ordinance shall be transmitted to the council by December 31, 2016, in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy to the clerk of the council …”
Not sure who in all of King County government will need to sign off on the report’s findings.
Longer term, the council has ordered a more comprehensive study of the county’s own business zones and certain types of impacts of retail marijuana stores and marijuana processing operations on unincorporated residents, including the following specifics:
o An analysis of the land available under the county’s land use code to determine if there is sufficient capacity to absorb the number of licenses the state has allocated to King County;
o A map of the known retail and producer and processor locations and any potential locations;
o An analysis of the impacts of legal marijuana retail and processing on unincorporated residents for the period 2014-2018, including the number, location and nature of complaints made to the department of permitting and environmental review;
o [Information about] crimes attributable to marijuana businesses;
o [A]n assessment of how regulations governing light and odor are being implemented;
o [A] summary of public comment made during five conditional use permit reviews;
o An assessment of the equity and social justice impacts of how the marijuana industry is developing in unincorporated King County;
o Recommendations for ways to meet the county’s obligations under the new regulated state framework and adopt development regulations that are fair and predictable to the industry and that minimize the impact of marijuana retail stores and processing facilities on residents;
o Recommendations for ways to use development regulations to incentivize the location of medical retrial establishments in King County;
o An overview of the state of the marijuana industry in the state and county based on what is learned in this report, as well as information available through state, federal and privately funded studies;
o A table showing the land use rules for all jurisdictions in Washington where such information is readily available.
This report is due in December 2018. So the council could not possibly take action on its conclusions until 2019 at the earliest.
July 31st, 2016 at 6:18 pm
By its own tacit admission, the county appears not to be ready to decide on reasonable and fair rules for retail marijuana in unincorporated areas.
King County should continue its moratorium on retail marijuana stores until it is ready to act on the conclusions of the newly ordered report.
August 1st, 2016 at 8:48 am
Your political buddy’s article in a free paper that is connected to escort agency, known prostitute rings and other sex trafficking organization. You want to use this to try prove your point.
Among being know for a paper that written buy a bunch of collage students trying to get a journalism credit.
It seems to me you have no issues with the people in the African American community that illegally sell marijuana to any one of any age in white center and skyway and the fact that these people that choose to illegally sell marijuana in these areas are loosing out on money and are also some of same people that are against these stores same with the anti pot people they will join any group that is against these stores for any reason. So yes you may get a few in agreement with you. This does not prove that you are right.
I feel if Martin Luther king Jr was alive today he would have some pretty awkward chose of words to say to you on the topic of racism in this situation.
You also fail to mention how many people of the African American community and other community’s that the i-502 laws are helping to keep out the court system for simple possession charges. That could effect collages loans/ applications or other future goals in life.
So mark you are part of a political action group and unfortunately political actions groups are know for trying to get there way no matter what. So it’s not to surprising to see you try to bring up racism in this day and age. If you could blame this on gun violence or terrorism you probably would gone with that angle to.
August 3rd, 2016 at 12:40 pm
See Mark you make these claims of racism involving the cannabis shop’s,king county and WSCLB. But what about the amount of auto body shops in skyway and white center that sell item’s like rims that spin,hydrolic systems and audio equipment to people of the African American community. These items that are really expensive and could be keeping these same people in poverty in these same areas.
Or the amount of locations in these same areas the sell item’s like malt liquor, menthol cigarette’s or dew rags.
Then you could even say something about Magnum condoms being connected to the African-American community now is it racist that there’s locations in skyway and white center that sell these items.
August 4th, 2016 at 4:16 pm
Jimmy, if you’re suggesting that somehow White Center and Skyway *deserve* to have nearly all the pot stores in unincorporated King County sited there, there’s something seriously wrong with your concept of fairness and justice.
Something in the increasingly objectionable tone of these rants leaves scant doubt over how little you really value these communities …
August 4th, 2016 at 9:22 pm
See mark your thoughts there are pretty wrong there thinking I don’t care for these communities. When your the one thinking these communities have no self control and have never had cannabis in there neighborhoods.
When also I haven’t begone to mention the other drugs that effect these communities in a bad way a 100% more than cannabis would ever.
But you think a few cannabis shop’s are the problem.
Mark unfortunately you seem to have some issues with your own race and want to play the blame game.
Well there this thing called honesty and there’s also this thing called the internet that can prove when someone is full of B.S. and you sir are pretty much full of bull sh**.