The Vancouver City Council voted 6-1 Monday to move on to a public hearing on what would be Clark County’s first ordinance setting out guidelines for marijuana retailers, growers and processors under Initiative 502. The hearing will be at 7 p.m. Monday, March 3, at City Hall, 415 W. Sixth St.
Councilor Bill Turlay was the lone dissent, saying he would not support something considered illegal under federal law. He said he recently attended an anti-drug event and was distressed to learn that seventh-graders knew where they could buy marijuana. The drug will ruin their brains, he said, and “make them lethargic and unable to learn.”
Councilor Alishia Topper, who attended the same event, said she, too, was alarmed at the access to marijuana described by youth. But state-regulated stores will help restrict that access, she said.
Councilor Jack Burkman said it’s distressing to know kids have access to alcohol and prescription pills, too. But, along with everyone but Turlay, he stressed following the will of voters.
“This is a social change that’s occurring right now,” Burkman said.
Initiative 502, which legalized possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older, was approved in 2012.
If the council adopts the proposed ordinance, rules will be in place by late March. That’s when the state anticipates approving licenses for growers and processors, principal planner Bryan Snodgrass told the council at a Feb. 3 workshop. Snodgrass said the state estimates retail licenses won’t be ready until June; the city can have up to six retail stores in community and general commercial zones. An uncapped number of growers and processors would be allowed in light and heavy industrial zones. By state law, the businesses must be at least 1,000 feet from schools, playgrounds, recreation centers, child care centers, parks, transit centers, libraries and arcades.
The county commissioners, who govern unincorporated areas, have said they won’t allow marijuana businesses until the federal government legalizes the drug. As for the other three local cities authorized by the state to have businesses, Camas and Washougal have ongoing moratoriums, and Battle Ground has not taken any action.
