Everett City Council might cap number of pot stores at 5

EVERETT — The Everett City Council might impose a cap on the number of marijuana stores in the city at its March 16 meeting.

Five pot shops already do business in Everett, and if the proposed ordinance passes, that will be all for the next two years.

A public hearing is scheduled before the vote.

The ordinance came to the council after the city’s Planning Commission voted March 1 to recommend the cap. The city staff had given the commission three options, without making a recommendation: Do nothing, impose a cap of five stores or set a cap at some other level.

In addition to a five-store cap, the commission added language that specified that the council would review and possibly change the ordinance before June 1, 2018.

The state Liquor and Cannabis board has recommended doubling the number of stores allowed in Everett to 10, as it merges the medical pot industry into the recreational market.

That raised concerns the city could be inundated. There are already several medical dispensaries just outside Everett’s southern limits, and some of those might convert into recreational shops.

“I’m concerned about the perception issue,” planning commissioner Chris Adams said.

He indicated he wasn’t sure of the appropriateness of some of the advertising he’d seen, and advocated a slower approach.

“I would support putting a limit in our place, but at the same time I’m not opposed to more stores in our community,” Adams said.

The current city rules in place since July 2015 also impose a 2,500-foot barrier of separation between the stores and certain sensitive areas, such as schools, day care centers and other facilities likely to cater to large numbers of children.

The rules also mandate the same radius of exclusion between shops. That meant, according to planning director Allan Giffen, there aren’t many suitable properties left in the city for more stores.

Commissioner Kathryn Beck, casting the sole dissenting vote, said that was one reason she thought the commission should not recommend any changes.

“I think what you’ll find you won’t even make it to 10 stores given the buffers and regulations,” Beck said.

“The bottom line is that the voters have spoken on this issue. It’s legal, and it’s a market,” Beck said.

The commission voted 6-1 to approve recommending the cap.

The commission took up the issue at the request of city Councilman Jeff Moore, who also said he felt Everett was already doing its share to accommodate the marijuana industry.

Four of the seven council members, including Moore, Scott Murphy, Scott Bader and Cassie Franklin, have said they support the process. The same four council members supported an emergency cap at the Feb. 3 meeting. That measure came up short, however, needing a five-vote supermajority to pass.

The ordinance under consideration will only need four votes to pass.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.

Public hearing

The City Council is holding a public hearing and final vote on a measure that will cap the number of marijuana stores in the city at five. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the council chambers of the William E. Moore Historic City Hall Building, 3002 Wetmore Ave.

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