Benton County considers ban to halt marijuana sales

The Benton County Commission is considering outlawing marijuana retail stores, voting 3-0 to pursue a ban at its regular Tuesday meeting.

The county’s elected leaders believe the move could halt the proliferation of new stores and, in time, end legal marijuana sales altogether.

They initially voted to push a moratorium to cap the number of stores at the current three. After greenlighting the moratorium, they retreated in favor of a stronger stance.

Commissioner Shon Small said he wants a strategy that ensures existing stores won’t be replaced if they close.

The legal marijuana retailers — Finley’s Green2Go, Prosser’s Altitude and the Griffin Road area’s Bakeshop — would be grandfathered if the ban takes effect. That means they would remain free to continue operating.

A ban means no new store would be authorized to replace any that close. In contrast, a moratorium could allow new businesses to replace old ones.

A ban requires the county to amend its zoning code. The months-long process includes reviews by its planning commission and the state Department of Commerce.

If approved, Benton would join Franklin County and the cities of Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland, among others, in barring marijuana businesses.

Initiative 502 legalized recreational marijuana in Washington in 2012 on the promise of turning an outlaw industry into a taxpaying segment of the community. But its unpopularity in Benton and Franklin counties led most local governments to pass bans and moratoriums.

The result is a patchwork of spots where it is, and is not, legal to grow, process or sell marijuana.

Benton County did not enact rules against marijuana after being advised it would be illegal. That led the state to authorize four retail licenses for the area. The no-bans counsel was rescinded about two years ago. The county revisited the topic in 2015 but took no action.

Benton isn’t the only local government reeling from the state’s sometimes faltering embrace of legal pot.

Yakima County bans marijuana, but has more than 20 licensed growers and processors after medical marijuana was rolled into the recreational marijuana rules last summer.

That put the former medical producers at odds with its ban on recreational marijuana. The Yakima County Commission agreed Tuesday to ask voters their views in November. It will treat the vote as a referendum on whether it should enforce compliance with county code and zoning ordinances.

Marijuana business owners have vowed to sue if Yakima County tries to shut them down, the Yakima Herald-Republic reports.

It is unclear if a ban in Benton County would affect a proposed West Richland store, its fourth and final licensed retail outlet.

The Garden LLC, a Spokane-based business operating as Nirvana Cannabis Co., is rehabilitating a former home at 4950 Arena Road after securing approval to move its license from Prosser.

The property is in unincorporated Benton County, but is surrounded by incorporated West Richland. Nearby residents argue it is too close to their homes, a preschool, a church and school bus stops and have mounted a fierce campaign to stop it.

The city of West Richland and Benton County both asked the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board to review its approval. Both requests were rejected.

Tuesday, a spokesman for the board affirmed Nirvana Cannabis Co. meets all the legal requirements to open and the state’s hands are tied. He also clarified that the state does not override local bans and moratoriums.

Neighbors say they’re not backing off, even after the board rejected Benton County’s request for a review of the Nirvana license. They vowed to keep fighting a business they say is out of character for their neighborhood and introduces unwelcome traffic to a two-lane road dotted with school bus stops.

“The area is just not suitable,” said Theresa France, who showed commissioners photos of the proposed marijuana store she took from her front and back yards.

“I know the state doesn’t think it is a big deal, but I don’t see any of them with a store in their backyard,” she said.

Small counseled opponents to keep up their campaign of phone calls to the state board. “Blow out their phones,” he advised.

In response to the West Richland situation, state Rep. Brad Klippert introduced an emergency bill in the Legislature to extend an existing 1,000-foot marijuana buffer to all places where children congregate and to prohibit the state from renewing licenses of existing businesses that don’t meet the new rules.

Tuesday, Klippert said House Bill 2238 is very much alive and could get a hearing as the Legislature continues its third special session of the year. Failing that, he plans to bring it back in 2018.

“The more the citizens of this area speak out, the more attention it will get,” he said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Benton County considers ban to halt marijuana sales."