Marijuana stores

Three marijuana retail winners were announced by the state Liquor Control Board last week and one retail license assignment for the county remains in open status after failing to attract any applications.

John Anthony Villa Jr. of Spokane with T&H Consulting, Mary Jane Smith of Pullman with For Art’s Sake and Leonard Breuer of Spokane with Silver Sands Distributors are the top three applicants drawn from the lottery from among 14 vying for the retail licenses.

All three applied for space on the 1300 block of Southeast Bishop Avenue in Pullman. Two applicants applied for the same spot but only one can occupy the space, and the other one must find another suitable space.

No at-large retail license application, which could be used anywhere else in the county and also allowed for Whitman County by the Liquor Control Board under their state quota system, has been submitted, according to Brian Smith, liquor board spokesman.

“It’s up to the board how to address those jurisdictions that have open applications,” Smith said. “It’s likely they will open it up again some time in the future.”

The state required that all applicants submit letters of intent to either purchase or lease from a property owner where the business might be located.

The state requires 1,000 feet between any recreational marijuana business and sensitive use areas such as schools, parks or other areas specified by Initiative 502 as places where children congregate.

The state licenses are not ready to be issued and the board will investigate each applicant and get input from city officials and the police department.

The LCB anticipates that the first batch of licenses will go out in late June or early July and then the applicants must get city permits which will take another month.

Pullman requirements include that no marijuana or paraphernalia be within 10 feet of any exterior windows, that the business has one parking space for every 200 square feet of retail space and that the business has no drive-through capability. Applicants also must pass a criminal history and financial investigation.

As of May 12, the LCB has issued 31 producer and processor licenses. No Whitman County producer licenses have been approved yet.

Whitman County commissioners have received nine producer and processor license applications. County commissioners chose to take no action on any of the applications because of the questions about the legalization of the state versus the federal government’s claim that marijuana use is still illegal.