Should Everett Zone Pot Shops Like They Do Places That Sell Beer?

Tomorrow night the Everett Planning Commission will hold a public hearing as it looks over the city’s zoning code as it applies to retail marijuana stores. It’s part of a mandated review after the city passed the original ordinance in 2016 limiting the number of retail marijuana stores to five and establishing zoning restrictions. The State of Washington says Everett can have up to ten stores and has issued provisional licenses for those additional five stores but Everett is under no obligation to expand the number above five. A decision is needed by June 1st.

One of the considerations brought up by planning commissioners during their meeting in February in their first look at zoning of pot shops was how to deal with the separation between the stores from one another. Currently the rule is a twenty-five hundred foot separation between stores. That is the largest separation in Washington State. The only other business category that has such a rule in Everett is adult entertainment. Bars, restaurants and retail stores that serve or sell alcohol do not have such a separation requirement.

In February, Everett Police issued a report on crime around the city’s current five retail marijuana stores and found no direct increase in neighborhood crime related to the stores. The report also showed convenience stores generated more calls for service than retail marijuana stores. Below is the link to the full report from Everett Police.

Everett Police Department calls for service and crime summary retail marijuana

The Planning Commission will take public testimony Tuesday night and then may make make a decision on the zoning. City staff is not making a recommendation on the number of additional shops to add up to the ten authorized by the State but has recommended that commissioners:

Reduce the separation between stores to 500 feet from the current twenty five hundred feet.

Prohibit new retail marijuana shops within 500 feet of homeless shelters or homeless service facilities, youth service organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs, campfire, etc. that provide youth recreation on site, drug or alcohol abuse treatment facilities, drug or alcohol detox centers, courthouse or jail/detention centers or places that provide social services to clients that abuse drugs or alcohol.

Keep the current regulation which does not allow a retail marijuana store on property that either has a residential use, or which is on property contiguous to a lot with a residential use.

You can click here to see the materials city staff is providing to the Planning Commissioners.

Keep in mind any decision by the Planning Commission is not binding and is just a recommendation to the Everett City Council. It is up to the city council to decide whether or not to allow an additional number of stores and make any changes in the zoning.

The meeting and public hearing is set for 6:30 PM Tuesday night April 3rd in the Everett City Council Chambers at 3002 Wetmore. It will be broadcast online at the city’s website and also on the city’s cable TV channels.