Debate over Pasco cannabis shops continues. Voters may decide where they go
Pasco voters could be the ones to choose if the city lifts it’s long-held ban on retail marijuana stores.
After much discussion at this week’s Pasco City Council meeting, the council expects to vote soon on putting an advisory vote on a ballot this year.
A number of pro-pot public commenters, clad in “I Support Cannabis In Pasco” T-shirts, packed the council chambers and discussion among the council seemed to reach a boiling point.
The council recently pulled back on a plan that would have allowed retail cannabis stores to do business in all industrial zones with a special use permit.
But because those zones lie predominantly in east Pasco, some called their plan “blatantly discriminatory” against neighborhoods subjected to generations of civic contempt, racial redlining and apartheid-like conditions.
“I think this sounds like a good compromise because I think everyone’s going to leave here unhappy,” Mayor Pro Tem Craig Maloney told his fellow council members and the public after this week’s discussion.
The council now plans to vote at an upcoming meeting, likely March 20, on putting the question to voters.
However, it’s currently unclear what that ballot language would say.
If a majority of the council rejects having a public vote, it will instead plan to bring up a new plan to direct staff to draft an ordinance to allow retail cannabis in all industrial and commercial zones without a special use permit.
Back to square one
Business owners, city residents and other stakeholders have been weighing in for several months now on whether or not Pasco should be the first in the Tri-Cities to lift its ban on retail cannabis.
Hundreds have commented on the topic, and opinions have run the gamut.
Because of its size, Pasco would be limited to four retail marijuana stores in the city limits by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.
The council’s first decision was to draft an ordinance that would have lifted the ban in industrial zones. But after Mayor Blanche Barajas said she wanted to study the issue more, the council reluctantly agreed to rescind the entire ordinance.
The city council found itself back to square one.
On Monday, Maloney denounced accusations that Barajas was involved in a “back room deal” that changed her vote, and characterized recent attacks as “ridiculous.”
“The main reason why I supported that is because the last thing in the world that I wanted to do was get to a spot where staff had spent time, drafted an ordinance, and brought it in front of us — and then, what, we amend it? We reject it? If there’s questions and comments before we got to that point, it was better to do it early than late,” he said.
“I really reject these attacks and this idea of some sort of back room deal being done, or some sort of cloak and dagger sort of thing that this council is pulling,” he continued. “Everything is done in the public eye. That’s what we do and we have a good reputation for that. And I’m offended by the attacks on my fellow council members.”
Maloney said studies have shown that youth consumption of marijuana and access to it have been dropping for several years now, especially after legalization.
Washington state compliance is very high for retail cannabis shops and legal cannabis sales decrease illegal street sales of cannabis, he said.
“I support legal retail cannabis in Pasco not as a driver for taxes, not as a driver necessarily for economic development in any part of town — those remain to be seen and those can all be questioned,” he said.
“The data is clear that legal retail cannabis sales keep children safe, and my issue and my focus is on the safety of our kids,” he said.
Maloney said it would be racist to only lift retail sales near the historically Black neighborhoods of east Pasco, adding that if they’re going to lift the ban they should also include commercial zones, too.
Advisory ballot vote
A majority of Pasco council members appeared to support of an advisory vote.
Council members David Milne, Pete Serrano, Joseph Campos and Irving Brown Sr. spoke favorably on letting the public decide the outcome.
“Let’s put it on the ballot. And it is what it is,” Brown said.
Councilwoman Zahra Roach said she shared in the public’s frustration that the city council had not come to a decision yet, especially given that it had not been a priority for the council prior to them being approached by the business community.
“I think that even if we put it to an advisory vote and spend money doing that and push it out to August... I think that it still comes back to this body — this body right here — to decide the ordinance language,” she said.
Roach, who previously supported lifting the ban in commercial and industrial zones, said it would be “unequal” and discriminatory to restrict where cannabis retailers could and couldn’t set up shop in city limits.
Campos said he saw both sides — an advisory vote, which Serrano has long advocated for, would clearly dictate direction by the people, but that work would ultimately come back to them.
Campos said he unhappy about their previous backtracking, but it was the right move to take a step back and rehash the issue so that they weren’t forcing city staff to draft an ordinance that didn’t meet the scrutiny of the council.
“I think from the conversation that’s up here tonight, this is likely going to go to an advisory vote and I would like to see that advisory vote open it up to the entire city,” he said. “Then it comes back to us — we can’t dispute what happens there. If it’s a yes vote, the ordinance we’re drafting is citywide. If people don’t want it, we don’t ever have to see it again.”
Tri-Cities cannabis shops
Aside from Prosser, all cities in Benton and Franklin counties ban cannabis retailers.
However, there are a few in the Tri-Cities area in unincorporated parts of Benton County. There are none in Franklin County, where Pasco is the county seat.
Nirvana is just outside the West Richland city limits and Green2Go is in the Finley area, east of Kennewick.
Prosser has Altitude on Merlot Drive. It’s other dispensary, The Bake Shop, on Griffin Road, is in the county.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 12:36 PM.
