Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX– Whitman County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to extend the marijuana moratorium for another six months, taking it to March 4, 2021.
One person spoke during the meeting’s public input time; Hailey Lewis, government affairs specialist for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman.
“We remain deeply concerned about marijuana’s effects on our schools, communities, businesses and families,” she said. “We believe Whitman County should be known as a hub for innovation and agriculture, not marijuana.”
The moratorium prohibits any new, or expansion of, county marijuana businesses. It first went into effect in March 2019.
PLANNING COMMISSION
Mark Storey, Public Works director, and Alan Thomson, county planner, were set to meet Tuesday with Prosecutor Denis Tracy to discuss re-starting the public input process for the planning commission’s new draft marijuana ordinance which was completed in February.
Since then, no planning commission public hearings have been scheduled during the virus restrictions.
“We were virtually done, except for the hearing process,” said Storey. “We had been holding out for Phase Four (of virus re-openings) but I don’t see a big change for awhile yet.”
Virtual meetings may soon be set, he suggested.
The planners’ work aims to create rules for matters such as how far a marijuana operation’s building needs to be from an adjacent property line, zoning, building filtration systems (to make a grow facility airtight to mitigate smell) and more.
Following public input, any proposed ordinance would need to be approved by county commissioners.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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