Lewis County’s temporary ban on producing, processing or selling marijuana has been extended another six months.
A Monday hearing on the recommended renewal of the moratorium drew little public question or comment, save for some concerns about recent state legislation and non-existent permits.
Tad Seaton, a license holder from unincorporated Lewis County who spoke at the hearing, said he thinks many people didn’t testify because much of the conversation has been “regurgitated.” He added that the many high school valedictorians and salutatorians in the audience who the Board of County Commissioners recognized earlier in the meeting may have also discouraged some people from testifying.
The only other member of the public to speak on the issue, Ron Averill, of Centralia, noted that legislation has since changed to combine recreational and medicinal marijuana. Rules and regulations are to be further determined by the Liquor Control Board, which will soon become the Liquor and Cannabis Board.
“In addition to the other reasons to continue this moratorium for recreational marijuana, I think that the addition of looking at how we’re going to be incorporating the rules for medical marijuana are further consideration and therefore the moratorium has a good purpose,” Averill said.
Lewis County Community Development Director Lee Napier previously told The Chronicle she is hopeful this will be the last extension of the moratorium that was first enacted in December 2013.
Just prior to the moratorium in November 2013, the commissioners passed Ordinance 1247 requiring that producers, processors and retailers to submit proof of a state license as well as registration approval from the U.S. Attorney General or the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The registration required has never been issued aside from research purposes, making the requirement effectively a ban.
Seaton questioned why the county is going through the code amendments.
“Are you going to remove that, or what’s the point of doing all the zoning if you can’t get that permission?” Seaton asked commissioners.
Commissioner Bill Schulte said the county is required to have the zoning and regulations in place if the federal government legalizes recreational marijuana.
Seaton doesn’t think time and resources should be used for things that might happen.
“Every other county in the state, for the most part, or cities that are doing it, they haven’t taken this long to impose any kind of zoning,” Seaton told The Chronicle.
The Lewis County Planning Commission, which is overseen by the Community Development Department, wrote a draft ordinance amending county code dealing with land use. However, the commission recommended the moratorium be renewed until amendments to codes dealing with health and safety are made.
Public Works, along with public health and social services, is recommending the county amend code to address solid waste disposal, the industrial waste produced and water supply system requirements for production and processing of marijuana, Napier said.
Napier told The Chronicle last week that officials hadn’t heard from people looking to sell marijuana as much as they had heard from producers and processors.
“So that’s the population that’s affected by the waste production,” she said.
Seaton said he has spoken with county officials multiple times and said Napier has previously given him an answer similar to Schulte’s reply when asked the same question.
While he considered inquiring if commissioners would allow for retailers to open because the remaining code work deals with wastewater issues, he decided against it to stand in solidarity with the producers and processors.
Seaton said he and other people seeking to have marijuana businesses in the county are meeting with commissioners near the end of June to better understand their position on the issue.
“The people that spent money on the licenses the leases … we’re running out of money,” Seaton said. “By the time (the commissioners) figure out that they want to do it or they don’t want to do it, and pretty much it looks like don’t want to do it, kaboom, (people) have lost their life savings.”
