PORT ANGELES — Commercial forests will get the green light for marijuana production in Clallam County if county commissioners adopt an ordinance being developed by an advisory panel.
The Clallam County Planning Commission on Wednesday examined zones where state-licensed recreational pot farms may or may not fit in unincorporated areas.
Members were tasked by the Board of County Commissioners to recommend zones where future marijuana growing and processing operations should be prohibited, subjected to standards or allowed outright.
Decisions reserved
With four of the nine members absent from the work session, most decisions were reserved for future meetings.
However, Connie Beauvais, Tom Montgomery, Robert Miller, Jane Hielman and Gary Gleason voted unanimously to recommend the permitting of marijuana businesses in the 631,685-acre commercial forest zone because of its low density.
“I think that was the biggest factor of that [change],” said Kevin LoPiccolo, Clallam County principal planner.
The quorum of the panel also voted 5-0 to restrict the industry from the 27-acre Carlsborg Village commercial zone, noting its proximity to the 82-acre Carlsborg industrial park, where marijuana is permitted.
“The other zones are up for discussion,” LoPiccolo said.
Montgomery said he would “feel more comfortable if we waited for the larger group.”
“I would like to hear the views of the other four, at least more than what we have now, before we get into those more contentious things, the critical zones,” Montgomery said.
Marijuana became highly controversial in pockets of rural Clallam County when the state Liquor Control Board began to issue business licenses to pot farmers in neighborhoods.
Initially, Clallam County required business owners to obtain a conditional-use permit from a hearing examiner but had no specific restrictions beyond the state law.
I-502
State voters approved the possession and sale of up to 1 ounce of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older by approving Initiative 502 in 2012.
Fifty-five percent of Clallam County voters supported the measure.
After a series of contentious board meetings with impassioned public testimony for and against the cannabis industry, county commissioners passed a temporary zoning ordinance for marijuana in October.
The stopgap ordinance required a 15-acre-minimum parcel size and a 200-foot setback for low-density areas and banned grows in medium- and high-density neighborhoods.
The temporary zoning expires in April.
Since the Planning Commission will be focused on the Shoreline Master Program update next month, LoPiccolo said a short extension on the interim ordinance may be needed.
The Board of County Commissioners will conduct a public hearing before making a decision on permanent zoning for marijuana.
Members of the Planning Commission spent most of their 2½-hour work session reviewing maps and discussing marijuana’s potential in the various county zones.
They heard testimony in favor of the pot industry from four marijuana business owners.
Matrix
Last December, planners in the county Department of Community Development created a matrix that identified the county zones with an analysis for the potential of marijuana siting.
The Planning Commission on Dec. 3 supported five zones for pot production and processing: urban neighborhood commercial, urban regional commercial, industrial, urban reserve industrial and Carlsborg industrial.
On Jan. 7, the commission discussed the possibility of allowing pot grows in the agricultural retention, commercial forest, commercial forest mixed-use and rural very-low-density zones.
However, the panel could not reach a consensus on whether to allow marijuana businesses in agricultural retention and was “not overly supportive of the rural very low and rural commercial zones,” LoPiccolo said.
“The motion failed, and the Planning Commission directed staff to try to come up with some potential development standards or performance standards,” LoPiccolo said Wednesday.
“It’s difficult to create a standard that is a fit-all for all properties,” he said.
“On one hand, it works, but it’s a little unfair because not all properties are created equal.
“That’s where oftentimes, the conditional-use permit serves as a better mechanism of achieving whatever the desired goal is.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.