It’s been an eventful week or so for marijuana news in Seattle. On Wednesday, May 22nd, the Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture committee voted to move a marijuana zoning ordinance to the Full Council meeting on Monday, June 3. In addition, the Washington State Liquor Control Board has released a first draft of rules to implement I-502.
The zoning ordinance would establish size limits for indoor urban farming in industrial zones, and limit activities in residential zones to what the state defines as one collective garden.
The Council has a new Marijuana in Seattle issue page with additional information about the zoning ordinance, where limits do and don’t apply, and how it interacts with state and federal law.
On implementation of recreational marijuana, the Liquor Control Board released the initial draft of rules for producers, processors and retailers, and is working on the timetable listed here.
It’s possible that state regulation, including any potential action by the state legislature regarding the medical and recreational systems, may require revisions to the zoning law. For this reason, I sponsored an amendment to the legislation noting that the City’s regulations may need to be revisited as the state continues to revise its rules.
The Seattle Channel has two recent programs touching on marijuana. The first one is called Pot Rules; my comments are here.
In addition, here’s an episode of City Inside/Out re: Marijuana Zoning.