HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 0811 147
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STATE OF WASHINGTON
County of Jefferson
An Ordinance Establishing a Moratorium }
Prohibiting the Production, Processing and }
Retailing of Recreational Marijuana in }
Certain Land Use Designations within }
Unincorporated Jefferson County AND }
Establishing a Work Plan for the Planning }
Agency }
Ordinance# 07- 0811 -14
WHEREAS, Initiative 502 was approved by the voters of this State at the General Election held
in November 2012, said Initiative approving and making legal, with restrictions, so- called
"recreational marijuana;" and
WHEREAS, Initiative 502 was codified into Chapter 69.50 RCW, the Uniform Controlled
Substances Act; and
WHEREAS, marijuana and marihuana producers, processors and retailers are defined in state
law at RCW 69.50.101, said definitions as currently stated there or as may hereafter be amended
being hereby incorporated into this and any Ordinance or development regulation that the
Jefferson County Commissioners may enact; and
WHEREAS, Initiative 502 directed the Washington State Liquor Control Board ("WSLCB ") to
develop, for example, A) rules and regulations to determine the number of retailers by county
and B) licensing and other regulatory measures for the production, processing and retailing of
marijuana for non - medical purposes; and
WHEREAS, the WSLCB adopted final rules on October 16, 2013 for marijuana producers,
processors and retailers, said regulations being codified at Chapter 314 -55 WAC; and
WHEREAS, the regulations of Ch. 314 -55 WAC went into effect on November 16, 2013 and
the WSLCB began to accept applications for recreational marijuana producers, processors and
retailers on November 18, 2013, said application window being open for one month with some
exception to that time limit; and
WHEREAS, only the WSLCB is authorized to issue licenses for the production, processing or
retailing of recreational marijuana with the caveat that the WSLCB notifies local governments
such as counties and cities of applicants seeking to locate in the jurisdiction so notified; and
WHEREAS, WAC 314 -55- 020(11) explicitly recognizes the authority of locally adopted rules
or ordinances to regulate licensed marijuana businesses, such locally adopted ordinances
including in part local building and fire codes, and zoning ordinances; and
WHEREAS, on January 16, 2014, the Washington State Attorney General issued an Opinion
regarding local regulation of state - licensed marijuana producers, processors and retailers (AGO
2014 No. 2), concluding in part, "... that I -502 left in place the normal powers of local
governments to regulate within their jurisdictions.... Local governments have broad authority to
regulate within their jurisdictions, and nothing in I -502 limits that authority with respect to
licensed marijuana businesses;" and
WHEREAS, County staff, including persons from planning, law enforcement, public health,
prosecution, as well as the County Administrator, met during 2013 to determine if any changes
to the County's current regulatory structure would be required in order to accommodate the then -
anticipated recreational marijuana business uses at a scale, intensity and locations that would be
consistent with this county's countywide planning policies, its Comprehensive Plan and the
generally rural aesthetic and character of unincorporated Jefferson County; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to JCC 18. 10.010 the production of marijuana is a form of agriculture, a
use that the county's land use planning seeks to encourage in a wide variety of ways; and
WHEREAS, Jefferson County values and supports local agriculture, locally grown food, and the
vitality of local farms, the farm economy, farm employment and farm lifestyles; and
WHEREAS, Jefferson County has long demonstrated its commitment to supporting agriculture
by previously adopting policies and regulations supporting agricultural activities, including but
not limited to adopting comprehensive plan amendments to designate and rezone agricultural
lands and regulations for Agricultural Activities and Accessory Uses, both of which were
developed and adopted in 2004 after extensive public involvement, and which regulations were
subsequently incorporated in the 2006 Omnibus UDC Revisions, winning the Washington
Governor's Smart Growth Award in 2006; and
WHEREAS, such supportive agricultural policies and regulations include provisions of
Jefferson County Code Title 18.20.030, including:
• agricultural activity is an allowed use within all zoning designations;
• commercial agricultural activity in certain circumstances is exempt from stormwater
management permitting for primary agricultural activities;
• agriculture activity is exempt for obtaining building permits in certain circumstances;
• Agriculture occurring on all rural land use districts except Rural Residential 1:5 are
protected by so- called "right to farm" rules that provide notice to adjacent, non-
agricultural parcels that agricultural activities do not constitute a nuisance;
• Accessory uses in Agricultural zoned land are exempt from obtaining building permits in
certain circumstances;
• Accessory uses include commercial production and sales of locally grown or produced
agricultural products, construction of structures, farm worker housing, processing,
packaging, wholesale and retail sales of agricultural products, commercial sales, repair
and maintenance of farm equipment, storage of vehicles, equipment, materials or
products not related to agriculture, agritourism, tourism events not related to agriculture,
classes, lumber mills, harvesting, sawing, processing, assembling and selling lumber; and
WHEREAS, during the weekly open public meeting of the County Commission held on
Monday October 14, 2013 staff briefed the Commission, informing them, according to the
approved minutes for that meeting, "that existing regulations of the County and the [WS]LCB
should be enough," based on the nature of marijuana operations then anticipated by the County,
and thereafter no amendment or further review of the County's regulations was undertaken; and
WHEREAS, during the license application window which subsequently began November 18,
2013, the WSLCB has, with respect to unincorporated Jefferson County, received several dozen
state license applications from persons and firms seeking to produce marijuana and/or process it
AND the vast majority (approximately 90 %) of the applicants seeking to locate in
unincorporated Jefferson County have requested state licenses to both produce and process
marijuana; and
WHEREAS, the County has received notice from the WSLCB of these license applications and
has in response informed the WSLCB of whether the County objects to either the type of state
license (production, processing, retailing) or the location of the license; and
WHEREAS, the applications to the state for producer and/or processor licenses in
unincorporated Jefferson County are for locations within various land use designations such as 1)
agricultural lands 2) light industrial/commercial, 3) light industrial, 4) rural residential and 5)
rural forest; and
WHEREAS, each of those land use designations listed immediately above has a distinct purpose
(and related public policy behind it) in the county's Comprehensive Plan and development
regulations and thus raise different compatibility issues in relation to the impacts from the
production or processing of recreational marijuana unique to each particular land use
designation; and
WHEREAS, the County's current development regulations in the land use arena do not impose
any land use permitting requirements on growing marijuana, although the processing of
marijuana in most land use designations requires a County land use permit as an accessory use or
"cottage industry;" and
WHEREAS, state, regional and local regulations and /or permitting regarding potable water,
adequate water, waste water and surface water discharges, the proper handling and disposal of
solid waste, food processing, and air quality are, and always would be, applicable to any
applicant seeking to enter into and undertake any one or some of the three recreational marijuana
businesses available to citizens through the WSLCB licensing process; and
WHEREAS, citizens have addressed the County Commission during the public comment period
of the Commission's open public meetings expressing great concern that the production of
marijuana is not typical agriculture and that both production and processing should be the subject
of additional development regulations not currently found in the applicable land use and
development regulations; and
WHEREAS, the production (growing) of recreational marijuana must comply with numerous
state regulations such as enclosure with an 8 foot high fence and security lighting that make it
distinguishable from more traditional forms of agriculture; and
WHEREAS, based on actual state license applications reviewed by the County and still pending
before the state, it now appears the potential high profitability of recreational marijuana is
attracting investments in marijuana operations and developments of a larger scale and higher
intensity than the County previously anticipated in some land use classifications, said larger
projects having resultant impacts not previously known or planned for, again making it unlike
the more traditional existing agriculture found in Jefferson County; and
WHEREAS, recreational marijuana production and processing may result in a scale and
intensity of activities that is inconsistent with the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan policies
to maintain rural character in rural residential lands; and
WHEREAS, recreational marijuana production and processing may be done at a scale and
intensity exceeding that which has occurred historically, and may result in impacts such as
increased traffic, noise, light, hours of activity, odors, water supply withdrawals, and surface and
ground water pollution; and
WHEREAS, in order to balance the supportive goals and policies for agricultural uses, including
but not limited to recreational marijuana, with comparable support for other land uses, it is
appropriate to review regulations for the potential scale and intensity of recreational marijuana
under the County's existing regulations and make such regulatory changes as found necessary so
that potential impacts between incompatible uses can be avoided, reduced or mitigated, for the
benefit of the health, safety and welfare of all Jefferson County citizens and businesses; and
WHEREAS, the County Commission acknowledges that the citizens of Jefferson County
supported the approval of Initiative 502 by almost a 2 -1 margin, and in recognition of the clear
will of its citizenry, does not intend to undo Initiative 502 by the eventual enactment of
regulations regarding recreational marijuana that would make initiating and undertaking such
businesses in Jefferson County impractical; and
WHEREAS, in order to provide the County the opportunity to review and amend its regulations
that would apply to marijuana production and processing, the Board of County Commissioners
deem it to be in the public interest to establish a moratorium intended to temporarily prohibit the
acceptance of any development permit application that would be necessary for the siting,
location or operation of recreational marijuana producing and processing at certain locations; and
WHEREAS, this moratorium is authorized by RCW 36.70.795, RCW 36.70A.390 and Article
11, § 11 of the Washington State Constitution as long as a work plan for the County's planning
agency is made part of this Ordinance;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Commissioners for
Jefferson County as follows:
Section 1. Moratorium. There shall be in unincorporated Jefferson County a moratorium with
respect to:
The submission, acceptance, processing or approval of any County permit applications for any
proposed use, development, proposal or project for the production or processing of recreational
marijuana subject to the licensing requirements of the Washington State Liquor Control Board in
accordance with RCW 69.50.325, as said statute exists now or as thereafter be amended, with the
exception of the following applications made for a parcel or parcels located within the following
land use designations:
• Production and processing of marijuana at a parcel or parcels designated AP -20 Prime
Agricultural Land, ( agricultural lands of long -term significance), or AL- 20 agricultural
lands of local importance;
• Production and processing of marijuana at a parcel or parcels designated Forest Resource
Lands, including CF -80 Commercial Forest; RF -40 Commercial Forest; or IF In- holding
Forest.
• Production and processing of marijuana at a parcel or parcels designated Rural Industrial,
including RI- Resource Industrial; LI /C — Light Industrial /Commercial (Glen Cove), Light
Industrial —(Glen Cove); LI/M — Light Industrial /Manufacturing; HI- Heavy Industrial;
Section Two. Effect of Moratorium. This moratorium neither impacts any permit
applications relating to recreational marijuana licenses as listed in RCW 69.50.325 that have
been deemed "substantially complete" by Jefferson County nor alters, amends, repeals or
revises any other applicable statute, regulation or code provision applicable to such substantially
complete applications.
Section Three, Duration. The moratorium adopted by this Ordinance is effective immediately
upon adoption and shall remain in effect for six (6) months, unless subsequently extended by the
Board pursuant to state law
Section Four. Public Hearing. Pursuant to state law, a public hearing regarding this
moratorium will be held by the County Commission no later than Octoberl 1, 2014.
Section Five. Work Plan. The following work plan is adopted
• DCD to hold a public comment period during September 2014
• Study impacts and generate draft revisions to the County's development regulations
within 120 days of enactment of this Ordinance
Planning Commission review and final recommendation to the County Commission
within 150 days of enactment of this Ordinance
• Adoption of final regulations within 180 days of enactment of this Ordinance.
Section Six. Findings. The Jefferson County Commission hereby adopts the above
recitals (the "WHEREAS" statements) as its findings of fact in support of this Ordinance.
Section Seven. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are declared separate and
severable. If any provision of this Ordinance or its application to any person or circumstances is
held invalid, then the remainder of this Ordinance or application of its provisions to other
persons or circumstances shall remain valid and unaffected.
ADOPTED by the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners at a regular meeting
thereof this 1 Ia' day of August, 2014, at IL:_ a.m.
C__ M
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
David Alvarez Date
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
ATTEST:
Carolyn Xkcry
Deputy Clerk of !eBoard
no
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
John Ostin, Chair
Phil Johnson, Member
David Sullivan, Member
Regular Agenda
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Philip Morley, County Administrator
FROM: Carl Smith, Community Development Director CS
DATE: August 11, 2014
SUBJECT: Update on I -502 (Legalized Recreational Marijuana)
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
This is an opportunity to update the BOCC and the public regarding this topic.
ANALYSIS:
On July 31, 2014, a meeting was conducted among representatives of Jefferson County, the
Washington State Liquor Control Board ( WSLCB), Department of Ecology, Olympic Region Clean
Air Agency, and the Governor's Office of Regulatory Innovation and Assistance. The purpose of the
meeting was to better understand existing rules and coordination procedures of the WSLCB with the
various agencies having a role in marijuana permitting. County staff is in contact with other agencies,
including the WSLCB with the goal of improving coordination among agencies and other
procedures.
FISCAL IMPACT /COST- BENEFIT ANALYSIS:
No direct fiscal impact of this update.
Staff recommends the Board receive the update and provide input to staff as desired.
REVIEWED BY:
7 /
Philip Mor y, ounty Administrat Date