Cheney OKs Marijuana Overlay Zone

The final Cheney City Council meeting of 2014, held Dec. 23, might have been short, but it certainly was impactful when it came to the budding marijuana business in the city.

By a unanimous vote, with Chris Grover absent, the council approved Ordinance W-58, an emergency action item authorizing formation of a Marijuana Overlay Zone to be located in the Farmers and Merchants Center at the corner of First Street and Cheney-Spokane Road.

The zoning change will clarify, for the near future at least, just where businesses like 3 Green Thumbs, LLC, scheduled to open in early January 2015, can locate.

The city had sought to deny a license to the business, basing that decision on 3 Green Thumbs being located too close to an arcade facility — Rosa’s Pizza and Cheney Bowl.

The medicinal marijuana dispensary’s application went before the Spokane County Hearing Examiner at a public hearing Nov. 19. In a Nov. 26 written decision, Hearing Examiner Brian T. McGinn overruled the city and approved the application.

Prior to the vote, city attorney Stan Schwartz briefed the council on some of the nuts and bolts of the proposal, first affirming the “interim” nature of the ordinance.

Reading from a portion of the new law, he said the city would continue to “Review how to balance the public interest in health and safety while allowing the sale on marijuana,” under rules established by state law and the Washington Liquor Control Board.

Those rules include a limit of two marijuana businesses within the city limits, of which 3 Green Thumbs would be the second.

Schwartz also singled out another portion of the ordinance, reminding the council that the 2015 Washington state Legislature is likely to take up the marijuana issue and further define and clarify parts of the law approved by state voters in 2012 with Initiative 502 legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Among the possible changes could be a reduction by half of the 1,000-foot buffer zone.

The overlay zone is a “special district” that defines where marijuana businesses can operate and a public hearing would be held within 60 days to elicit additional input. The ordinance will be in effect for six months from the date of approval, unless extended.

The meeting concluded with council reports with each offering season greetings, but Councilman Graeme Webster also offered his concerns over the marijuana issue.

“I’m troubled by the marijuana issue, I really am,” Webster said, asking fellow council members, “Are we really going to get revenue?”

3 Green Thumbs filed an application Oct. 6 to locate a dispensary in 900 feet of retail space. The dispensary is a compatible use in such zoning per the city’s marijuana ordinance passed earlier this year.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.