PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners today will consider a stopgap ordinance to regulate the placement of recreational marijuana businesses.
Interim zoning would place tighter restrictions on growing operations and processing facilities in rural neighborhoods until permanent zoning is established.
“I think the ordinance is a good one,” Commissioner Jim McEntire said in a board work session Monday.
“It’s very comprehensive.”
The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ boardroom (160) at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
The three commissioners heard copious testimony on the same ordinance in a 31/2-hour hearing last Tuesday.
A majority of the speakers said the proposal did not adequately protect the interests of rural neighbors who are concerned about the potential loss of property values, security risks and odors.
Many sided with Commissioner Mike Doherty, who has long called for a moratorium on marijuana businesses with exceptions for those in designated areas.
Commissioners last week directed the Department of Community Development to refine the proposal with the county Planning Commission, which voted 8-0 on Sept. 17 to oppose the legalized pot industry in rural neighborhoods.
“Obviously they were very opposed to this ordinance,” Chapman told staff Monday.
“I’d like to see what their thoughts are before I vote for anything at this point.”
The Planning Commission has scheduled a Wednesday briefing on the marijuana proposal with a discussion of the next steps.
The advisory panel makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners on land use, planning and regulatory issues.
“If this gets passed, it will go through [the Planning Commission] to see what needs to be changed from it or taken out of it, added to it or enlarged or expand upon,” Community Development Director Sheila Roark Miller told commissioners.
Planning Manager Steve Gray said the commission liked parts of the ordinance but wanted more restrictive zoning for marijuana businesses in rural areas.
“If you do not adopt interim controls, then we will proceed with permanent controls and you will have to apply our current code, as we are now,” Gray told commissioners.
Since marijuana became legal for adults 21 and older through Initiative 502, Clallam County has required state-licensed entrepreneurs to apply for a conditional-use permit from Hearing Examiner Mark Nichols to open in the unincorporated county.
The proposed ordinance maintains the conditional-use permit requirement for most rural zones and adds minimum setbacks, minimum parcel sizes and other development standards based on the size and scope of the operation.
For example, a 2,000 to 10,000-square-foot growing operation would be required to have a 10-acre parcel, 100-foot setback and a property owner who lives there.
If the ordinance is approved, temporary zoning would be in effect for six months.
“If you adopt the interim controls, either as proposed or as modified, we would still go back to the Planning Commission to work on permanent controls,” Gray told commissioners.
McEntire asked for legal advice on a hypothetical waiver system that would allow a pro-marijuana neighborhood to ease restrictions for the applicant.
“My thinking goes to try to find a mechanism where neighbors have some degree of control to say yes or no,” McEntire said.
“On the down side of that, I really hesitate to have anything where someone’s property rights are subject to a vote. That’s the argument against.”
Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said such a waiver system would “end up usurping the entire zoning process.”
“You run into possibilities of spot zoning and all kinds of other things that just make it very messy,” Nelson-Gross said.
“I would say that probably the best legal mechanism that we have for that would be the CUP [conditional-use permit] process because that allows public input. People can come in and support or oppose.”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
