Everett Wants To Add 3 More Marijuana Stores

In a proposed ordinance that the full Everett City Council will get a first look at during their Wednesday night meeting this week there is a phrase that says, “The proposed amendment to the Zoning Code provides for the best long-term interests of the Everett community.“

Likely there will be some at the public hearing scheduled for March 4th who may disagree with that statement and the encouragement of the City Council Public Safety Committee to increase the number of retail marijuana stores in Everett, Washington from five to eight. All of the new stores would have to have a certification as a medical marijuana provider by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Everett first began considering legal retail marijuana stores in 2013. The first legal recreational store opened in 2014 and the Everett City Council set a cap of five stores with restrictions on where they could operate within the city limits.

Two years ago the Everett Planning Commission voted to increase the number of retail marijuana locations in Everett to ten as allowed by the State Liquor and Cannabis Board. The Everett City Council at that time rejected that recommendation leaving the number of retail shops allowed within the city limits at five.

Last year Everett Council member Liz Vogeli asked that the City Council reconsider the restrictions on the number of stores and worked through the public safety committee of the council to find a way to make that happen. The public safety committee met multiple times and recently agreed to bring the issue of adding three more stores before the full council. The briefing and first reading of the ordinance happens Wednesday night followed by a public hearing and vote set for the first City Council meeting in March.