Marysville bans recreational marijuana businesses

MARYSVILLE — After months of debate and watching how a new industry is taking shape across the state, the City Council here has enacted a ban on all recreational marijuana businesses.

Marysville joins an increasing number of communities across Washington that are moving beyond the “study” phase of Initiative 502, which voters passed in 2012, and are enacting laws that will govern how marijuana businesses will operate.

While some municipalities — including Everett, Lake Stevens, Arlington and Snohomish County — have adopted zoning regulations that allow marijuana-based businesses in certain areas, Marysville is among a smaller number of jurisdictions, such as Monroe and Pierce County, which are prohibiting all marijuana businesses.

City Council president Jeffrey Vaughan said members tried to keep an open mind and render a fair decision on what the city should adopt. The vote on April 28 was 6-0 to prohibit all marijuana businesses.

The city had passed a moratorium in September, and a committee studied and submitted findings to the city’s planning commission, which then recommended the ban.

“In the end I felt, for me, the detriments outweighed any benefits of allowing those facilities,” Vaughan said.

One of those detriments was the fact that I-502’s restrictions on zoning would have confined marijuana producers and processors to the light industrial neighborhoods at the north end of the city.

Marysville has several hundred acres of undeveloped land in that area, and the presence of marijuana facilities there, or even the potential that one might later move in, might be seen as a detriment to businesses the city would like to attract, especially if they come from outside Washington, Vaughan said.

Vaughan mentioned that he recently had out-of-state visitors at his company, whom he showed around the area, including downtown Seattle.

“What was interesting to me is that they were not impressed with what they saw with the openness and availability of marijuana,” he said.

Mayor Jon Nehring, who doesn’t have a vote on the council, said that the city’s police department, the Marysville School District and many members of the public opposed allowing pot businesses in town and were concerned about potential negative impact, with not much upside.

An non-binding opinion issued by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson earlier this year said cities have the right to ban marijuana facilities. That gave the prohibition argument more life.

Then a bill in the Legislature that would have allowed municipalities to share in marijuana tax revenue, while preventing cities from banning pot businesses, died in committee.

“From the way (I-502) was set up, the state gets the majority of the revenue, and the local municipalities are stuck with all the impacts,” Nehring said. “Do we really want to be the ones to take on those impacts?”

In the end, the council voted unanimously to enact the ban, a move Vaughan said was prudent and wise and intended to protect the city’s youth and families.

The vote came as the state began issuing licenses for marijuana retail stores. In some cities, including Marysville, the state conducted a lottery to award a limited number of licenses.

The three businesses awarded a license in Marysville will now need to look elsewhere.

Any changes to the city’s ordinance would only come after there has been time to see what effects this new business will have in Washington, Vaughan said.

“The fact is we just don’t know,” Vaughan said. “It’s so new, as far as the nation goes, we’re really the tip of the spear here,” he added.

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

Talk to us

More in Local News

This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP)
A new movie based on OceanGate’s Titan submersible tragedy is in the works: ‘Salvaged’

MindRiot announced the film, a fictional project titled “Salvaged,” on Friday.

Craig Hess (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Sultan’s new police chief has 22 years in law enforcement

Craig Hess was sworn in Sep. 14. The Long Island-born cop was a first-responder on 9/11. He also served as Gold Bar police chief.

Cars move across Edgewater Bridge toward Everett on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edgewater Bridge redo linking Everett, Mukilteo delayed until mid-2024

The project, now with an estimated cost of $27 million, will detour West Mukilteo Boulevard foot and car traffic for a year.

Lynn Deeken, the Dean of Arts, Learning Resources & Pathways at EvCC, addresses a large gathering during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Cascade Learning Center on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Everett Community College in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
New EvCC learning resource center opens to students, public

Planners of the Everett Community College building hope it will encourage students to use on-campus tutoring resources.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman announces his retirement after 31 years of service at the Everett City Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett police chief to retire at the end of October

Chief Dan Templeman announced his retirement at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He has been chief for nine years.

Boeing employees watch the KC-46 Pegasus delivery event  from the air stairs at Boeing on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Boeing’s iconic Everett factory tour to resume in October

After a three-year hiatus, tours of the Boeing Company’s enormous jet assembly plant are back at Paine Field.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Teen boy identified in fatal shooting at Everett bus stop

Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15, was shot at a Hardeson Road bus stop earlier this month. Police arrested two suspects.

Arlington
Man charged with dealing fentanyl pills that led to Arlington overdose

Prosecutors charged Robin Clariday with controlled substance homicide. He allegedly handed Bradley Herron the pills outside a hotel.

Lynnwood
Seattle woman identified in fatal Highway 99 crash

Elena Mroczek, 74, was killed Sunday in a crash involving a 19-year-old.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Rival gang members charged with killing Everett boy, 15, at bus stop

The two suspects are accused of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Witnesses contradict gunman’s account of killing Monroe prison officer

Dylan Picard, 22, was driving on South Machias Road when Dan Spaeth approached his car to slow it down to avoid hitting a deer.

The Safe Sleep Cheat Sheet shows what's safe for infants and what should be avoided. Photo provided by the Snohomish County Health Department.
Infants’ deaths from unsafe sleeping far outpace other accidents

Nineteen infants died in two years in Snohomish County, when zero died from drownings or car crashes. Officials sounded the alarm this week.