Pasco council sharply divided in vote to allow retail marijuana sales
Following months of emotionally-charged debates, the Pasco City Council is moving ahead with a plan to soon allow marijuana sales inside the city limits.
The council is expected to adopt the ordinance at a future meeting, making it the first of the four cities to allow retail cannabis stores.
But in the end, the council was sharply divided on the issue of lifting its years-long ban. Ultimately, the majority voted in favor of directing city staff to draft a plan to allow the shops to operate only in three types of industrial zones.
Stores will need a special use permit, too.
Mayor Blanche Barajas was the tie-splitting vote for an option that was broader and allowed cannabis retail in downtown commercial zones. But she ultimately changed her vote last minute to deny the plan.
“I know there are a lot of changes that have been going on in our downtown area — we’re working on improving. And this is not because of the type of business, this is because I would like to continue seeing the growth in downtown before we can move forward in allowing retail cannabis,” she said.
A motion to allow retail in industrial zoning passed 4-3, with council members David Milne, Pete Serrano, Irving Brown and Barajas voting in favor.
Zahra Roach, Craig Maloney and Joseph Campos opposed the motion. They backed the less-restrictive option.
Mayor Pro Tem Maloney said his priorities were not in raising tax dollars for the city, but allowing “government to get out of the way” of a burgeoning retail market.
“I think that if we push forward with a conditional use permit, we’re going to see that the conversations about the health affects of marijuana are going to be raised again to the hearing examiner, and that’s of course not something that the hearing examiner can make any determination on — nor is this an item that is or is not allowing marijuana to be consumed in the city of Pasco,” Maloney said.
Serrano said while he was opposed to “any allowance” of retail pot, allowing them in the industrial zones with a permit was the most balanced option to avoid zones too close to schools and parks.
Pasco’s ban on marijuana-related businesses went into effect July 2014 — almost two years after Washington state voters passed Initiative 502, which decriminalized marijuana possession and recreational use.
However, voters in Benton and Franklin counties overwhelmingly rejected I-502.
The city has been reconsidering its ban since last August, when a Spokane cannabis retailer pitched a downtown shop to the council.
That would not be allowed under the direction the city is currently headed.
Council ultimately made the decision last October to move forward with repealing certain parts of its ban on pot.
At last week’s meeting, council members discussed the possibility of requiring a special use permit, restricting retail sales to downtown commercial and industrial sites, restricting sales to areas north of Interstate 182, reducing the Washington state buffering distance mandates from parks in circumstances and limiting the total number of citywide retail locations to just two.
A special use permit will require all cannabis retail shops to be approved by the city’s hearing examiner before opening up.
Franklin commissioners opposed
Lifting the city’s ban on retail cannabis has been controversial.
The city held multiple community listening sessions last year, hearing from hundreds of community members and business owners on many sides of the issue.
A 2021 National Community Survey answered by about 350 Pasco residents showed about 45% would strongly or somewhat support a change to marijuana retail sales. About 46% said they would not, and another 10% said they “didn’t know.”
Public commenters this week mostly were concerned about changes to zoning to allow retail marijuana. Some said they were divided on the issue, and said that the council should look for a middle ground.
Franklin County Assessor John Rosenau hand delivered a letter from the Franklin County commissioners objecting to Pasco’s proposal to lift the ban.
Commissioner Rocky Mullen, who represents downtown Pasco and large swaths of East Franklin County, told the city council that he hasn’t heard from any constituents who support allowing the sales.
Others have lauded the plan to lift Pasco’s ban, saying it would be an economic benefit to allow retail cannabis within city limits.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
