PC APPROVED Minutes 10-22-15 APPROVED Minutes
Spokane Valley Planning Commission
Council Chambers—City Hall,
October 22,2015
Chairman Stoy called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the
pledge of allegiance. Ms.Horton took roll and the following members and staff were present:
Kevin Anderson Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney
Heather Graham Lori Barlow, Senior Planner
Tim Kelley Jenny Nickerson, Sr. Plans Examiner
Mike Phillips, absent-excused Christina Janssen, Planner
Susan Scott
Joe Stoy
Sam Wood Deanna Horton, Secretary of the Commission
Hearing no objections, Commissioner Phillips was excused from the October 22, 2015 meeting.
Commissioner Graham moved to approve the October 22, 2015 agenda as presented. The vote on the
motion was six in favor, zero against, the motion passes.
Commissioner Anderson moved to accept the September 24, 2015 minutes as presented. The vote on the
motion was six in favor, zero against, motion passes.
COMMISSION REPORTS: Commissioner Kelley reported he attended the Traders Club Meeting.
Commissioner Wood reported he attended the City Council meeting on October 20, 2015. The other
Commissioners had no reports.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT:
No administrative report.
PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comments.
COMMISSION BUSINESS:
Study Session: CTA-2015-0006 Marijuana Regulations
Deputy City Attorney Erik Lamb began the evening explaining to the Commissioners the current status
of marijuana in the City and the state changes in the law.
• A moratorium on new medical marijuana uses (unlicensed marijuana uses) was established by
the City Council on Dec. 9,2014.
• A moratorium on new marijuana uses licensed by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis
Board(WSLCB)was established by the City Council on Oct. 6,2015.
• Both moratoriums require the City to develop appropriate local regulations giving effect to the
2015 State Legislative amendments.
City zoning and buffer restrictions on recreational marijuana were adopted July 2014:
• Production permitted in heavy and light industrial zones — indoor and outdoor, indoor growing
permitted in Regional Commercial and Community Commercial.
• Processing permitted in heavy and light industrial zones — packaging and extraction; packaging
and labeling only allowed in Regional Commercial and Community Commercial.
• Local buffers for production and processing— cannot be located within 1,000 feet of City Hall,
CenterPlace,vacant City property,vacant library property and vacant school property.
• Retail sales permitted in Mixed Use Center, Corridor Mixed Use, Regional Commercial, and
Community Commercial.
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• Local buffers for retail sales — cannot be located within 1,000 feet of City Hall, CenterPlace,
vacant City property,vacant library property and vacant school property,the Appleway Trail and
the Centennial Trail.
Prior to 2015 there were two different regulatory schemes for recreational marijuana and medical
marijuana:
• Recreational Marijuana(Initiative 502), codified primarily in chapter 69.50 RCW.
o I-502 passed in Nov. 2012.
o Decriminalized possession and use.
o Established a regulatory system for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board
(WSLCB)to license producers,processors and retailers of recreational marijuana.
o August 29, 2013: US Dept of Justice issued its response to 1-502, stating no prosecution in
States with legalized marijuana if there are strong regulatory systems on paper and in
practice. The federal government still considers marijuana a Schedule I controlled substance.
o Possession and use of marijuana legal for people over 21 years of age.
o WSLCB went through extensive rulemaking process in 2013 and began issuing licenses for
production and processing in Spring of 2014, issued first retail license in July of 2014.
o There are three types of marijuana licenses:
Producer—indoor and outdoor growing.
Processor—putting marijuana into useable form, e.g.: packaging or making marijuana extract
and using it in edibles or as a concentrate.
Retailer — a person licensed by the WSLCB to sell useable marijuana, marijuana-infused
products, and marijuana concentrates in a retail outlet.
o WSLCB rules prohibit any state licensed marijuana facility from being within 1,000 feet of
the perimeter of any elementary or secondary school, playground, recreation center or
facility, child care center,public park(excluding trails), public transit center, library,or game
arcade open to persons under the age of 21, this is administered solely by the state through
the state licensing process.
• Medical Marijuana—codified in chapter 69.51A RCW.
o Originally approved by initiative in 1998.
o Amendments in 2011 resulted in confusion, lack of regulation, and left collective gardens as
means of producing and procuring medical marijuana.
o City issued business registrations for collectives, provided the collective garden was located
in zone where retail sales were appropriate. There were no medical marijuana specific
regulations at that time.
Reconciling Medical and Recreational Marijuana—2015 Legislation.
• State Legislature passed bills to reconcile medical and recreational marijuana markets
• Maintains same licensing system through WSLCB
• Adds "medical marijuana endorsement" for licensed retail stores, allows licensed retailer to sell
medicinal marijuana to qualified patients and designated providers: qualified patients and
designated providers may receive an exemption from the State's marijuana tax.
• Eliminates collective gardens effective July 1, 2016.
• Establishes cooperatives, which consist of up to four patients. They must be in a domicile,
cannot be located within one mile of licensed retailer, must be registered with the WSLCB, and
may contain up to a maximum of 60 plants.
• Specifically allows cities to prohibit cooperatives.
• Cities may reduce the buffers to 100 feet, except around schools and playgrounds.
• Establishes transportation license.
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• Establishes research license.
• Allows qualified patients to grow up to 15 plants per housing unit.
• WSLCB must increase number of allocated retail locations to accommodate medical marijuana
needs,fiscal note estimated 400 additional retail stores,but the number will be determined later.
• WSLCB issued emergency rules effective Sept. 23,2015:
o Specified WSLCB would begin accepting retail license applications on Oct. 12,2015
o Specified the total number of retail stores would be set at a later date
o Specified maximum production space would be set at a later date
• WSLCB concurrently issued draft rules at the same time as emergency rules, which will go
through the public process and will be adopted in late 2015/early 2016:
o Also specified the total number of retail stores and max. production space would be set at
later date.
o Specifies priority in which retail applicants will be licensed.
o Set rules for applying for,receiving and maintaining medical marijuana endorsement.
o Set rules for applying for,receiving and maintaining a transportation license.
o Set rules for cooperatives,which must register with WSLCB.
Mr. Lamb stated the moratoriums direct the City to develop regulations. Staff discussed possible options
with the City Council on August 18, 2015, at which time Council indicated a desire to limit further retail
stores, possibility with a buffer between stores rather than outright prohibition. Council also discussed
limiting cooperatives. Mr. Lamb explained staff would like to discuss with the Planning Commission
what their thoughts are for possible options to changing the marijuana regulations before they brought
forward any proposed changes. It was also suggested if the Commissioners would like to hear from the
public before making any decisions it would be possible to have a public comment session where the
Commissioners could talk to people regarding the subject before. The Commissioners agreed they would
like to do that and have a presentation from the police department as well as the fire department.
Commissioners asked Mr. Lamb several questions in regard to marijuana regulations, either in the City or
state. Current retailers will be able to get a medical endorsement. The moratoriums did not affect any of
the current businesses. Because of the way the medical dispensaries were brought into existence, it is
difficult to say how many there are currently, however based on the new laws, if they cannot be
converted to a retail shop with a medical endorsement they must stop operations by July 1,2016.
Although the state has said it will later determine how many more additional retail shops it will allow,
previously the original number was determined by a population allocation calculation by the Office of
Financial Management. In the initial allocation Spokane County was allowed 18 retail stores, the City
was allowed three. Mr. Lamb felt the state would probably turn to something similar to this to determine
a limit in the future.
The Commissioners discussed individual medical patients. How many marijuana patients are allowed to
grow for themselves, up to 15 plants per person, they must not pose a nuisance for the neighbors (sight,
height, smell). Were landlords allowed to restrict growing on their property, it would be up to the
landlord to enforce the terms of a lease,which would be a civil matter between the two parties.
In regard to processing the marijuana, chemical processing is not allowed in some of our less intense
zones because of the processes used to extract the THC. Some processes can be dangerous which is why
they are not allowed in the less intense zones. The extracted THC can then be used in edibles or in other
concentrated forms. Commissioners asked if the Health Department inspected the processing of the food
made with marijuana. The Department of Agriculture is the agency overseeing food preparation.
There was a question if there was a limit on how many cooperatives there could be. There is not,but they
do have some limitations. They can only consist of a maximum of four qualified patients, must be in a
domicile, the patient must have the medical authorization from a doctor, and they must register with the
WSLCB.
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To generate further discussion, staff brought up three possible directions the regulations could take.
Option 1)Maintain existing regulations
• Add definitions regarding retail stores with medical endorsement
• Allow cooperatives
• Clarify permitting requirements for any modifications for home grows
• Would allow 727 parcels for retail, though not all available due to market and existing other
commercial uses
Option 2)Additional regulations
• Additional buffer, the possibilities could be 1,000 feet from retail store to any other licensed
use,this results in 61 allowable parcels
• Additional buffer could be 1,000 feet from a residential zone
• Limit allowable zones
• Overlay, limit areas where allowed, e.g.just along west Sprague area
• Limit or prohibit cooperatives
• Clarify permitting requirements for any modifications for home grows
Option 3) Prohibition
• All license types or just particular ones e.g. ban retail but allow production or processing
• Cooperatives
• Clarify permitting requirements for any modifications for home grows
• Potential issues with challenges, ongoing appellate cases, with no decisions yet, so result is
uncertain
Under all options, existing licensed stores become legal nonconforming uses to the extent they may not
comply with the new regulations.
Commissioner Anderson stated he had come up with another option. He said he felt recreational use of
marijuana was going to stay. He said he felt medical marijuana will not be allowed to be blocked by
cities, his goal would be to have the minimum number of retail outlets as allowed by law, to control the
co-ops, and eliminate processing other than growing in any residential facility but not eliminate the
availability of the infused products for medical purposes. Mr. Anderson offered the following as possible
options for marijuana regulations.
• Medical marijuana must be sold only at recreational retail outlets, maintain the existing retail
outlets but require them to obtain a medical endorsement.
• Maintain the current buffers,but possibility restrict under age people from entering the stores.
• Allow cooperatives under the same zoning rules as recreational growers and with the state
cooperative requirement that one must be an owner of the property.
• Allow medical marijuana growing in private residence for personal use assuming approval is
received from the property owner in the case of rented or leased facilities.
• Do not allow any solvent extraction within any residence/domicile or property.
• Require all infused product or concentrate to be purchased from medical/recreational retail
outlet.
Commissioner Stoy suggested changing the allowable retail outlets to ten. There was a discussion
regarding limiting the number of plants allowed in a residence to keep it below the number which would
trigger a sprinkler system. It is possible that growing the plants could damage a home from the moisture
required to grow them. The question came up as to how enforcement would work if you don't know who
is growing.
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The Commissioners came to a consensus they would like to take public input regarding this subject
before making any suggestions about which way to go with the regulations. They would also like to have
a presentation prior to the public input from the fire and police departments, as well as they would like to
have input from the schools. Ms. Nickerson will also return with information about the restrictions for
single family housing if people want to grow in their homes.
GOOD OF THE ORDER: There was nothing for the Good of the Order
ADJOURNMENT: There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.
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J•- toy, Chairperson t" Date signed
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Dea a Horton, Secretary
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