Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The matter of a marijuana-grower applicant in Garfield is still to be decided. At issue is whether the town will allow a marijuana-growing operation on the south end of its city limits in the aftermath of the passage of Initiative 502.
Opposition to an operation in Garfield appears to be building after the March 26 city council meeting when the issue was addressed again.
Town resident Greg Kolar attended the meeting and told the council that he plans to build a house on property adjacent to Charles Lantzy, on which Lantzy’s niece, Debra Lantzy, has applied to be a state-licensed marijuana grower and processor.
Kolar’s plans are to build on land owned by his mother, Joan Wride, who lives on it now.
He told the council he wonders how the land’s value will be affected by the presence of a marijuana operation next to it. He went on to cite that part of his view would be of a marijuana crop.
In other comments at the meeting, council member Sharon Schnebly, who is also a non-voting member of the planning and zoning committee, said that the potential smell from growing marijuana might be apparent to neighbors, which could alone be a key issue.
Katie Young, another town resident in attendance, suggested that the presence of a marijuana operation would surely affect property values.
“I think it’s terrible,” Wride later told the Gazette.
She has lived on the property bordering the proposed growing site for the past 60 years.
The town first began to wrestle with this issue when Lantzy applied last fall for the Tier 2 license, which allows for no less than 2,000 square feet of marijuana plant canopy and no more than 10,000.
That application to date has not been sanctioned by the state Liquor Control Board.
Garfield Mayor Ray McCown has consulted with City Attorney Stephen Bishop on potential legal issues if the town passed an ordinance stating that it would not allow a business which is contrary to federal law.
The matter is now in the hands of the town’s planning and zoning committee. They will ultimately make a recommendation to the city council, which will then discuss it and vote.
On March 17, about 20 people gathered at the Garfield community center for a meeting called by the planning and zoning committee.
In the end, if Lantzy’s plans are deemed permissible by the council, she would be required to apply for a conditional use permit, for which the town will notify neighbors within 300 feet of the proposed project and seek public input.
If neighbors oppose the permit or if the city council votes to not allow Lantzy’s operation in the first place, the Washington State Liquor Control Board still may be a factor in what happens.
“They don’t have to listen to us,” said McCown. “It’s just a headache. I think the town as a whole voted against (Initiative) 502. Now everyone I hear talking, they’re all against it.”
If the town does vote or passes an ordinance to disallow, there could be a reaction.
“That doesn’t stop the applicant from suing the town,” McCown said. “For a small town on a limited budget, a lawsuit would be devastating.”
He believes it could cost the town $20,000 or more.
“Ninety-nine percent of the people who have been to the meetings are opposed to it,” said McCown. “They’ve stated it and they’ll go to another meeting and state it again.”
Lantzy’s business would have no retail element, in Garfield or elsewhere. She would sell the crop to licensed retailers.
Lantzy, 52, moved to Garfield last June from Wenatchee with the intention to set up her proposed business, Koulee Kush, LLC. The name is a reference to Coulee while Kush is a slang term for marijuana.
When I-502 passed in Washington in November 2012, Lantzy contacted her uncle and pitched the idea of starting a grow operation on his land.
Lantzy has said that the plants would be grown indoor and outdoor, with an eight-foot privacy fence around them. The operation would require no employees.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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