The city of Everett has been cautious as it, Snohomish County and the rest of the state navigate how to turn a once-illegal substance into a legitimate industry.
With the state adjusting its own rules, regulations and policies following the 2012 approval by voters of Initiative 502, which legalized the recreational production, sale and use of marijuana, it’s also time for Everett, as well as other jurisdictions, to begin to ease up on interim restrictions related to production and sale of cannabis. At stake, as well, is the city’s share in the tax revenue it generates.
The Everett City Council meets 6:30 tonight at City Hall to take public comments before voting on proposed amendments to its current zoning regulations for recreational marijuana businesses.
Among recommendations from its planning commission, zoning changes would expand the areas for retail sale to include a zone near Everett Station, reduce the separation required between residential zones and production and processing facilities from 1,000 to 500 feet and designate one property on W. Marine View Drive, the former Jeld-Wen door factory, as eligible for a production or processing facility. Currently there are three recreational marijuana retail businesses in Everett, but no production or processing facilities. The current ordinance restricts production to less than 2,000 square feet of growing area. The proposed ordinance would allow one production and one processing facility each in the city but with allowed growing space of up to 10,000 square feet (Tier 2) or up to 30,000 square feet (Tier 3). The Tier 2 and 3 facilities could only be sited in industrial zones and following a permit process reviewed by a hearing examiner.
Along with the planning commission’s recommendation, the council also can consider a proposal from Mayor Ray Stephanson’s administration that would largely keep the current restrictions in place, but would also require that marijuana businesses not be located within 1,000 feet of each other to prevent clustering.
The planning commission’s recommendations appear cautious enough, yet would still allow a fledging industry, which is intended to discourage the black market, to continue measured and reasonable growth in Everett. And while some might see a benefit to discouraging a “cluster” of two or three retail shops, doing so further limits the area available for what are legal businesses.
Continuing the past practice of gradually loosening regulations, the commission appears comfortable with allowing the former Jeld-Wen plant to serve as a pilot project. And at least one potential producer has an interest in the facility.
I-502 passed with 56 percent approval statewide. Among Everett’s 95 precincts, the initiative earned majorities in all but nine precincts, and in some precincts the level of support exceeded 60 percent. This is what the voters said they wanted: legal marijuana, legitimate businesses and reasonable regulations.
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