City council considers delay on dispensaries

Pullman marijuana dispensaries will be put on hold for half a year so that more shops can open if a recent proposal by the Pullman City Council is approved.

The proposal requests a six month moratorium on future marijuana dispensaries based on new legal interpretations expressed during the city council meeting on Oct. 27.

Laura D. McAloon, Pullman’s city attorney, recommended to the city council during the meeting that a six month moratorium on business regarding future marijuana dispensaries be put in place. The reason for which is so the city planning commission could review recent information regarding new interpretations of Washington’s marijuana laws.

“It would be wise, she would recommend, that we invoke a moratorium of probably six months in which we have a chance to take a look at all these new interpretations and actually refer to planning commission and let planning hold hearings then come back to city council with a recommendation,” said Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson.

The proposal, containing McAloon’s recommendation, will be drafted and up for approval during the council’s next meeting on Nov. 10.

The interpretations referred to are statements by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board that Pullman might be able to have more than the previously allowed three dispensaries.

Dispensaries were also required to be 1,000 feet away from parks, churches and schools, and now there is the possibility of that number being reduced to as little as 100 feet.

The moratorium allows the council and planning commission to review these interpretations and decide whether Pullman wants to expand its current allocation of three shops or leave the situation as it is.

“This is for anything more than three,” Johnson said. “We’re not closing shops, this is only future stuff as we take a look at the new interpretations.”

If the moratorium is passed, Pullman’s planning commission and the city attorney will work to adapt Pullman’s current regulations to the new interpretations, said Pete Dickinson, Pullman’s planning director.

“It would be a straightforward, ‘how can we make our regulations be in compliance with the new?’ changed law,” Dickinson said.

The commission will also hold a public hearing to hear testimony on whether three shops are sufficient or whether more are needed, along with the 1,000-foot regulation, Dickinson said.

The issue of medical marijuana being sold at retail dispensaries will also be reviewed. Dispensaries with a license to sell medical marijuana are allowed to have a higher quantity in stock, Johnson and Dickinson said.

“It’s state law, and all of us are sworn to uphold state and federal law, so that’s the way we play it,” Johnson said.

Possible locations for these future shops could be near Pizza Hut on N. Grand Avenue; by the Wheatland Mall next to WSECU on SE Bishop Boulevard; or on U.S. Route 195 past Jess Ford.