PORT ANGELES — A proposal to ban marijuana sales in the Joyce area was met with mixed reviews at a Clallam County Planning Commission meeting, setting the stage for a public hearing on the issue next month.
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 Wednesday to call for an Aug. 16 hearing on a proposed ordinance that would restrict retail marijuana sales within the Joyce Urban Growth Area.
Two members of the commission said they were opposed to the code amendment, citing discrimination.
“I don’t hear anything about ‘Are you going to prohibit alcohol?’ ” Scott Clausen said.
“ ‘Are you going to prohibit tobacco?’ So if not, then you are clearly showing discrimination.”
The Aug. 16 hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
The proposed code change stemmed from a 2015 survey of Joyce-area residents that found that getting drugs out of the community was the No. 1 priority.
State voters in 2012 passed an initiative to legalize the possession of sale of recreational marijuana to adults 21 and older.
Clallam County adopted an ordinance in 2015 that allows state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and retail shops to operate in certain county zones, including “urban centers” such as Joyce.
At present, there are no retail marijuana stores in Joyce and no pending applications for legal pot shops in its urban growth area.
“No one is arguing the law about marijuana or any of those things,” said Terry Barnett of the Crescent Community Advisory Council, which conducted the survey and requested the code change.
“That’s not what this is about. This is about trying to guide our children until they’re the legal age to decide for themselves the best we can on the outside influences. The community feels this would be one of the ways to do that.”
Dara Peppard of the Crescent United Coalition, a youth substance abuse prevention organization, said a pot shop in Joyce would make her work “that much more difficult.”
“It sounds kind of old-fashioned, but we’re a small, tight-knit community,” Peppard told the Planning Commission.
“And we’re really, really excited that we may have a chance to actually prevent marijuana sales in our town and support the work we’re trying to do on the other end.”
Barnett said Joyce is different than other communities because its school — Crescent School — is in the heart of town.
“The community is very connected with the school,” Barnett said during public testimony. “The school is very connected with the community.”
State law prohibits marijuana businesses from operating within 1,000 feet of a school.
The ordinance before the Planning Commission would remove the Joyce Urban Growth Area, or UGA, from the list of zones where marijuana can be sold.
It would also update text to conform with state law.
“It’s fairly straightforward,” Clallam County Principal Planner Kevin LoPiccolo said.
The Joyce UGA is a narrow strip of land that follows state Highway 112 from roughly Miller Road on the east to Shire Lane on the west, a distance of 1.7 miles.
Armed with a recommendation from the Planning Commission, the three county commissioners will consider adopting the code change this fall.
The Clallam County Department of Community Development is backing the proposed ordinance, as is Joyce resident and Planning Commission Vice Chair Connie Beauvais.
Beauvais, who is also a Port of Port Angeles commissioner, said in a recent interview that the effort is “a push by the local community to set an example for the young people in our community.”
Planning Commission member Jane Hielman of Clallam Bay said she would like to see a similar ordinance considered for the Clallam Bay-Sekiu area.
Clausen said he conducted research about marijuana prior to the meeting.
“First off, marijuana is not a causal factor for increased drug use,” Clausen said. “There’s a correlation, but it’s not a causal factor.
“Second, the idea of prohibiting, you have still the illegal market,” Clausen added. “People are going to continue to use that illegal market.”
Planning Commission member Gary Gleason said he was “quite concerned” about restricting the availability of medical marijuana.
“About 100 years ago, we tried to prohibit the sale of liquor,” Gleason said. “That turned out really well, didn’t it?”
Gleason, a longtime school teacher, said a prohibition on cannabis would lead to “considerable leakage” from legal grows, the black market and possibly dangerous synthetic marijuana.
“So basically, I’m opposed at this point to passing this regulation because once we put it into the county code, it’s permanent,” Gleason said.
“And if there is someone in Joyce, one of the veterans or one of them older people who have trouble getting into Port Angeles and who need it, I feel that we have discriminated against them. And I am strongly opposed to discrimination in all forms.
“To me, it’s not a whole lot different than the baker who says, ‘I will not sell a wedding cake for a gay marriage,’ or the florist who says, ‘I will not prepare something for a gay funeral,’ ” Gleason added.
“And I feel that this is a matter of fairness.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
